Heaven on Earth FORMER TITLE Heaven is a Child
by ProDLnEC aka NLcsimiamifanatic
Summary: For them, heaven on earth came in the form of a baby girl...just a story of pure fluff about Calleigh & Eric getting together & having a child. WARNING: ALL FLUFF! LITTLE TO NO DRAMA! Could have many chapters, I haven't decided yet! ON HAITUS
1. Prologue

_Another creation from my wild imagination about Eric & Calleigh and how their future should be! A relatively short story with short chapters._ _I don't like the new coroner so Alexx never left in my little CSI: Miami world!__** Every reader knows I don't like Marisol Delko!**_

_**Prologue: Revealing Feelings...Finally! ******__Post "All-In"_

_"Eric, I told you I'm fine."_ _Calleigh said. _

_"I'm not. I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to you today," Eric told her softly, in brute honesty._

_"Okay," Calleigh replied, her voice finally starting to crack, feeling emotion of the day's events begin to overtake her._

Eric ended up spending the night with Calleigh. Being kidnaped and having a gun held to her head had caused her to think about things she should have said a long time. Like how she felt about Eric Delko. She confessed that she loved him and had for a long time, she was bought to tears to hear he had loved her for just as long but didn't have the nerve to tell her because he was afraid it would ruin their friendship. That night they consummated their long secret love and began the family they both longed for.


	2. I'm Pregnant!

_**I'm Pregnant!**_

_A month later Alexx found Calleigh in the ladies' room, tears in her eyes. She had just returned to the lab She said she had had an appointment._

_"Calleigh! What's the matter? Sugar, what did the doctor tell you?" She said, putting her arms around her friend. _

Calleigh and Eric had come out as a couple after spending the night together. Horatio had agreed to kept them both on the same shift as long as it didn't interfere with their work and they could keep things on professional level while at lab. The couple promised, knowing it was something they were certainly capable of doing. Everyone at the lab was happy for them, most telling them _"it's about time!"_

_"I'm pregnant, Alexx," Calleigh said, swallowing a sob. _

_"Oh honey!" Alexx said, hugging her friend, "Are you all right about this?"_

_Calleigh nodded. Most of her was very happy with the idea. She and Eric were definitely planning for the future; in two weeks, when his apartment lease expired he was moving into Calleigh's Condo. _

_"But you're scared about what Eric will say?"_

_Calleigh nodded again. _

_"Calleigh, I'm __sure__ he'll be thrilled. I know you're scared, sweetheart, but just talk to him. You'll see you have absolutely nothing to worry about."_

Eric was at home with the flu that day, well, technically he was at his future home, Calleigh's place. Calleigh left the lab early to give him the news.

Eric had just woke up from a nap on the couch when Calleigh walked through the front door.

_"Hey babe," he said. Eric then noticed his girlfriend's pale complexion and unusual silence._ _"Calleigh, honey, are you all right?" He rose and went to her._

Calleigh hadn't told Eric that she had a doctor's appointment that day.

Calleigh took Eric's hand and led him to the couch, telling him to sit down she had something to tell him. This worried Eric, if only for a moment, because Calleigh just came right out and said it.

_"Eric, I'm pregnant," she said, waiting nervously for his reply._

_Eric was stunned but he smiled "you mean, that night we—oh Cal!" his face breaking into a grin. He embraced her as tight as his arms would let him._

_"Yes, Eric," Calleigh replied, smiling now, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "We're going to have a baby_."

Telling everyone at the lab their baby news was easier than both thought. They thought for sure they would get comments on how fast they proceeded with their relationship but Horatio told them "you two have been in park for what, five years? You need to hit the gas pedal! Congratulations!"

Eric knew it was going to take a while for his parents to warm to the idea that he and Calleigh were expecting so soon, and because his mother was a devout catholic who was adamant about no sex before marriage, let alone a _baby_. She had done a good job for years putting herself in denial that her only son had had premarital sex with _several_ women. His parents had known for five years that he was in love with his co-worker. They had met Calleigh a few times and liked her. They were _very_ happy for Eric to hear Calleigh returned his love and they were now a couple. But they were less excited to hear that the two planned to move in together because they weren't married. This piece of information was going to make it harder for Chlorinda Delko to deny the sexual angle of Eric and Calleigh's relationship.

Telling her the baby news was going to make it impossible.

Eric decided to tell his parents the news over the phone because he and Calleigh already had two strikes against them with his parents even they liked her. The first being they were living together and the second was they had done so quickly.

_"What is it, hijo? It sounds important. You sound excited," Eric's mother said._

_No matter his mother's reaction or lecture on religion nothing she said was going to affect his excitement._

_"Calleigh's pregnant, mama," he said. "We're going to have a baby."_

Chlorinda didn't give much of a reply, to Eric's relief. Once she processed the news and "got over" the religion angle that he didn't want to hear she would be excited. Eric told her before she asked that at the moment there was no plans for a wedding.


	3. The Perfect Name

_**The Perfect Name**_

The couple knew they were possibly getting ahead of themselves and possibly setting themselves up for heartache because the majority of miscarriages occurred in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy and Calleigh was only six weeks along, they had already picked a name if the baby was a girl. Her name would be Nevaeh Hope Delko. Nevaeh was heaven spelled backwards and 'heaven' was exactly what she would be to her parents. They had yet to think of a name for a boy.

_Four Months Later..._

__They didn't need to think of a name for a little boy anymore. Calleigh was now five and a half months pregnant. The couple could breathe easier now the doctor told them Calleigh was well past the point where miscarriage usually occurs _and_ to add to their joy, the ultrasound showed their baby was a girl.

Eric and Calleigh were ecstatic. The doctor was touched to see _both_ the expectant parents cry at the news. The dad and mom-to-be had started talking to their little bundle of joy since they knew about her. Oh yeah, Calleigh was now Calleigh Duquesne-Delko. They exchanged vows at the city hall two days before they found out they would indeed have a daughter. Only Horatio, Frank, Alexx and Natalia were in attendance. Eric's parents weren't invited. To his disappointment they still hadn't got past the fact that the bride was pregnant. It had bothered them that the couple had waited even this long to get married with Calleigh being pregnant. He didn't want them watching him and Calleigh exchange vows with gloomy expressions on their faces. Annoyed, Eric had told them that it was 2009, not 1950. It really bothered Eric that his parents still weren't all that excited about the baby simply because of the conception time. It was a good thing that the grandparents-to-be had decided to keep quiet about the fact they didn't like the "weird, new-age" name the parents-to-be had picked out for their child.


	4. Waiting

_**Waiting**_

It seemed like the closer Calleigh's due date got the longer time seemed. Eric guessed every expectant couple went through this feeling.

_"Hey Delko," Ryan said, walking into the trace lab. "How's Calleigh and the baby?"_

_Eric smiled._

_"Calleigh's exhausted today. Baby girl is quite active during the nocturnal hours. "_

_For Eric, getting to feel the baby underneath his hand was the best feeling in the world. His wife told him he never had to ask for permission to touch her belly or talk to their unborn child._

_"She's yours, too," she told him. "And she likes her daddy's voice."_

This was true. Nevaeh Delko definitely seemed to like hearing daddy's voice. Sometimes if she were moving around, keeping mommy awake at night when daddy talked to her she'd settle down.

Calleigh still couldn't believe she was going to be a mommy. She had ceased to have a relationship with her own mother, a cold-hearted women who looked the other way and told her to "suck it up, nothing was broken" when Calleigh's alcoholic father often beat her when she was a little girl in Louisiana, years ago. Till a few years ago Calleigh thought she should never be a mother, that she may not have been abusive but she would be just as detached as with her child as her mother was with her. Thanks to her friends, Calleigh realized she wasn't her mother and would be a loving and doting parent to any children she had.

She had a distant relationship with her father—and only when he was on the wagon—which wasn't often. Kendell 'Duke' Duquesne wasn't going to get be grandpa to her little girl. And her mother, Megan Duquesne wasn't getting within ten feet of her baby if Calleigh had anything to say about it. She really hoped that her in-laws would come around soon because her child deserved at least one set of grandparents.

One thing Calleigh knew for sure, Eric was going to be an _incredible_ father; he already was. He massaged her feet and shoulders at the end of the day, cooked her favorite meals and made sure the pantry was stocked up with her latest food cravings.


	5. Grateful

_**Grateful**_

Before this time in his life Eric hadn't given much thought to the department's policy that prohibited pregnant officers from being out in the field. Now he was grateful for it. Even without it, he knew Calleigh wouldn't stayed out in the field for long, she was a smart woman plus the health and safety of their baby was paramount to her as well as him. She would stayed just long enough to make her husband a basket case, which for Eric probably would be just a day. From the time Calleigh found out she was pregnant she was restricted to work in the ballistics lab. When she hit the six month point in her pregnancy—which was in two weeks, she would have to leave the ballistics lab because at the point there was higher chance of her being injured. Then till she went on her one-year maternity leave Calleigh would be on desk-duty. Eric didn't know any CSI in the lab who _liked_ desk-duty and he knew Calleigh especially hated it. Both loved the action of being out in the field.

Eric smiled at the sight in front of him. Calleigh had left the lab at the usual time but he had to stay to finish processing a case. Calleigh was sound asleep in the couch. Her husband had told her not to wait up for him but he knew she wouldn't listen. He knelt down, stroked her hair and kissed her brow. She stirred and opened her eyes.

"Hey handsome," she said sleepily.

"Hey yourself," Eric replied smiling. "What are you doing out here?"

"We don't like our bed when you not in it with us," Calleigh said.

Eric smiled, kissing Calleigh's belly. "Daddy loves you, too, pumpkin. You're being a good girl tonight, you must be sleepy.

"Are you two hungry?" He asked softly.

"No. We had dinner. Rachel called just I got in the door. She bought over spaghetti and meatballs. She bought a plate for you, too."

_Good Ol' Rachel,_ Eric thought.

His parents might not have been excited about his baby but two of his older sisters, Rachel and Natasha definitely were. The youngest in the family, Marisol seemed indifferent but everyone knew she was self-centered.

Eric carried Calleigh into their bedroom and carefully laid her on the bed.

"You two won't be by yourselves much longer. I'll be right in as soon as I eat."

Eric's mother had taught all of her children how to cook; Rachel and Eric had were her best 'students' of her four children. His new wife freely admitted she hated to cook and wasn't at all good at it. He had known this about her since they first met and it wasn't bothering him now that they were married. Being a woman didn't necessarily mean a person liked cooking or baking or had to be good at it just as being a male who knew how to cook didn't make you gay. Cooking was Eric's way to relax after work. His sister's cooking wasn't bad but personally he thought his was better, he thought smiling, putting his plate in the sink

Eric went to the bedroom and quickly stripped down to his boxers and slipped under the covers with his pregnant wife, wrapping his arms around her. He felt Calleigh's back snuggle into his front. His palm, draped over his wife's pregnant belly felt a tiny limb poke out under her skin. The CSI smiled, wondering if it was his daughter's hand or foot.

"I missed you today, baby girl. I love you, too. You and mommy are everything to me."


	6. Long, Boring Days

_**Long, boring Days**_

Calleigh sighed as she finished filling out another report. Days at the lab dragged on for her now she was on desk-duty.

"I so _hate_ this," she muttered.

Her daughter gave her a strong kick just then.

Calleigh smiled and touched her abdomen.

"Oh no. Mama's not talkin' 'bout you, sweetpea. I love you. You're a dream come true for me and daddy."

"Baby making a fuss?" Horatio said, walking into her office.

"Yeah," Calleigh replied. The mention of her daughter causing her to smile as it as it always did. "Looks like I have to watch what I say; she kicked me when I said I hated this paperwork. Maybe she thought I talking 'bout her."

Horatio smiled.

"You must have to be more specific next time. Sounds like you and Eric have a smart little girl.

"Do you have those reports for me?"

"Yep. Here ya go."

"Thank you, ma'am. You can head to lunch now, if you want. I'm sure your baby would appreciate it."

"Thanks. Eric and I are going out to lunch. He should be here in a few."

Calleigh was glad she and Eric had such a caring supervisor and friend in Horatio Caine. He was who they were planning to ask to be the godfather of their daughter. The expectant parents thought about asking Tim Speedle. Although he was also a close friend and great guy, Tim didn't identify well with children. He admitted he felt 'awkward' in their presence. Horatio, on the other hand, seemed to have an instant rapport to every child he met.

When her husband arrived, the two headed to a small coffee shop for lunch. After Calleigh ordered a club sandwich on wheat bread with fries and a side of coleslaw and Eric ordered a cheese burger basket with the works minus the onions because his wife warned if he ate onions he wouldn't kissing her again till the next morning, Calleigh excitedly told him how their daughter kicked that morning. Eric smiled, lacing his fingers through his wife's in the center of the table.

"That's awesome. Maybe our girl has better hearing then most babies."

Eric then told Calleigh how Horatio had abruptly pulled him off a crime scene just as he got there because it involved a man who had beaten his pregnant former wife The woman was barely alive when she were loaded into the ambulance. The woman was pregnant with her new fiance's child. Tragically, as Eric was pulling up Horatio got a call from the hospital. The woman's heart had stopped en route to the hospital, paramedics were unable to revive her. She was pronounced dead upon arrival. The woman was rushed straight to the operating room. Doctors performed an emergency c-section on the deceased in a futile attempt to save the life of the nearly full-term baby boy who still had a faint heatbeat when the ambulance arrived at the hospital. The doctors weren't sure the baby had died as a result of the beating his mother had received or whether the child died as a result of his mother's death. The child's body would be sent to the morgue for autopsy.

Horatio couldn't put his co-worker and friend through a scene like this, at least not right now. With a child on the way, he didn't want Eric to see the amount of blood and amniotic fluid that covered the bedroom floor and furniture. He called in Ryan. Ryan was bothered like everybody but at least Ryan wasn't about to be a father. Eric followed Horatio's orders and went back to the lab. He wasn't about to argue he could stomach seeing such a scene with he and Calleigh expecting their own baby.


	7. Yes, WE'RE Pregnant

_**Yes, **__**We're**__** Pregnant!**_

If Eric was dreaming, he didn't ever want to be woke up. Seeing his daughter on the ultrasound screen was the most precious sight in the world. He didn't feel at all awkward or silly rubbing Calleigh's tummy or talking to the baby inside. If anyone who heard him thought it was strange, it was their opinion and they were entitled to it. A lot of people, majority of them, people his parents' age, who heard them or especially Eric say "we're pregnant" thought it was 'stupid.'

"_She's_ pregnant, not _him_," was the most common statement they heard.

That didn't bother either of them, either. In _their_ opinion, the pregnancy was _their _experience, not just Calleigh. Unfortunately only Calleigh had to go through the "really horrible" stuff and all Eric could do was be supportive of her and be a shoulder for her to lean on.

To his and Calleigh's relief, Eric's parents had warmed up the thought of the baby. Some friends of hers, who just a devout as she, had told her to "get out of the church and into the real world" and to "set her mind ahead a few decades."

_"You have a beautiful granddaughter on the way by two people who love each other. You should be thrilled! It's nice that they are, but __who__cares__ if Eric and Calleigh are married or not!" One of them told her._

That seemed to wake Chlorinda Delko up although she still found her son's "we're pregnant" comment to be "dumb." But she had never seen Eric so happy so she wouldn't say anything to spoil that, just yet anyway. As the baby's only grandmother, Chlorinda Delko _assumed_ she was going to be allowed in the labor and delivery room when Calleigh gave birth.

Eric was getting the feeling that she was thinking that way; but was waiting to say anything to contradict his mother since Calleigh wasn't due for another ten weeks. However there was no doubt that his mother was not getting into the delivery room. Repeat, no way. If Calleigh needed extra support or a "back-up coach" from someone who had been there before, that role was going to go to Alexx. All that was already arranged. Alexx planned to hang around the waiting room during Calleigh's labor, no matter how long it was, even before Calleigh asked her to come to the delivery room if she needed it. Alexx felt honored and said she would 'definitely' be there. The couple had double-checked and made sure that the hospital allowed two 'support' persons in the delivery room.

Calleigh confided in Alexx that she was praying she wouldn't start screaming and swearing at Eric when she was in labor. Alexx had talked to Calleigh's husband on this topic a few times. She told the father-to-be not to take it personally if there were points, during her labor "and there _would_ be," where Calleigh screamed, swore at him or told him she hated him or not to touch her, or those last two in combination. The M.E. and mother of two told him honestly that giving birth was different for everybody but could be and ninety-nine percent of the time was _very_ painful. It had been for her, both times. Hearing this Eric was glad, very glad, that his wife was going to be able to have quick access to pain relief if she needed it. And as far as him taking offense to anything Calleigh said or did in the labor room, he wasn't going to.

Eric had watched enough childbirth-related shows on the _Discovery Channel_ in the past weeks and the expectant couple were enrolled to start prenatal classes shortly; Eric's idea, not Calleigh's. He thought they would be "informative." The mere thought of the classes made Calleigh uncomfortable, not to mention she thought "a bunch of huffing and puffing did squat" when you were in that much pain. Eric believed he wouldn't take anything Calleigh said or did in the labor room personally because if his body was going through that he'd be saying and doing _much_ worse. He felt guilty when the thought crossed his mind _thank__god__ I'm a man._


	8. Leave My Family Alone!

_**Leave My Family Alone!**_

Eric was infuriated. Calleigh had called him, crying. She had the day off and received a phone call from her mother. Megan was at the airport, getting ready to board a plane to Miami. She was demanding that Calleigh and Eric sign a legal document stating they agreed to let Megan have their child in Louisiana for a week every three weeks. She was insisting that the first visit be when the child was just three weeks old, and the child come to Louisiana _alone_ even then. Megan thought that the parent and child "bond thing" was 'over-rated' and this "nurturing" was 'bullshit.' She wanted this visit with Calleigh and Eric's daughter every month. Megan stated she was "going to make sure" that Calleigh didn't "coddle" "it," by (in her opinion) by breast-feeding the baby (the baby would be bottle-feed with formula when mom wasn't there), staying home with her for the first year and only returning to work part-time afterwards, all of which Calleigh planned. First Calleigh could only guess that her mother had heard of her pregnancy through someone living in Florida who knew both her and her mother, because she, her husband or in-laws hadn't told her. But how she knew these very intimate details of her life Calleigh soon realized that in her excitement about her pregnancy she had blurted to a former neighbor of hers from childhood that she was planning to take a year off and then only return to work part-time. She had asked his woman's advice on the topic of breast-feeding because she was a retired nurse. This person was one of the very few people Calleigh still spoke to from Baton Rouge. The woman knew Calleigh's relationship with Megan was 'rocky' but she didn't know details and she didn't know Megan's true character, either, only the image Megan put on.

_That bitch isn't getting her hands on my daughter,_ Eric thought.

Horatio was there to hear the call between the couple. He knew Megan knew where Calleigh lived with Eric. But she didn't know where _he_ lived. He told Eric to go home. For him and Calleigh to pack several bags and they could stay at his house till this issue was resolved and Megan had gone back where she came from. Horatio would stay at their place, run Calleigh's mother out of Miami and make sure she never contacted the couple again. It wasn't up for discussion. Considering just how upset his wife was and knowing his priority was with her, Eric didn't argue. He would go home, help Calleigh pack, pack for himself and go to his friend's house. Horatio would be the person that Megan Duquesne would meet when she opened the Delkos' apartment door. He was going to make sure this woman left Calleigh alone.

Eric welcomed H "laying down the law" with Megan Duquesne. If there was one person in the world whom even total strangers knew not to mess with the second they met him, it was Horatio Caine. Although it was _his_ family that was intruded on and some said _he_ should have confronted Megan, right now Calleigh needed Eric to come and be with her more. She wanted him to hold her, tell her it was all going to be all right and not let go.


	9. Miami Dade Sheriff

_**Miami-Dade Sheriff**_

Megan Duquesne knew the reputation of Lieutenant Horatio Caine. But she was not prepared to face him the moment she walked into her daughter's condo and into the living room. The door had been left unlocked on purpose. The light was off, she flicked it on. Horatio sat in the armchair a few feet away.

_"Mrs. Duquesne," Horatio greeted her without emotion. "It's rude to enter a home without knocking. Especially when you're not invited—not wanted here."_

_Megan snickered._

_"Well, well, well. If it isn't __**Horatio Caine**__. I heard all about you. What are you? The personal sheriff of everyone in Dade-County? People call you whenever they have a problem? I __knew__ my daughter would call you. It just proves me right. Her husband doesn't have the balls to face me."_

_"That's where you're wrong, __ma'am__. Eric did want to confront you but with your blatant disregard for Calleigh's feelings and well-being, he needed to be with her more. That's why I'm here._

_"Do you have any idea what this amount of undue stress can do to a pregnant woman and the health of her baby? Or is it you know but you just don't care?"_

_Megan snorted._

_"I take that to mean the latter. After all, you want to ask a Florida family court to separate a three-week-old nursing newborn from her mother for a week every month. Hundreds of miles away may I add. _

_"No court will grant you that request. Especially with your taste in men, or do you keep that a secret from your friends in Baton Rouge? You take this visitation issue to court and I personally guarantee that this will the first thing the judge hears about you. I'll make sure your church friends and neighbors know your true colors as well."_

_Frank had a friend in the Baton Rouge PD. Megan's taste in men was pedophiles. She was currently living with a convicted felon whose type of victims was toddler boys._

_"You wouldn't do that," Megan spat out._

_This baby was Eric and Calleigh's and he hadn't yet been asked to be godfather but that didn't mean he didn't already care for the child and have concern about her welfare if Calleigh's mother had access to her._

_"Then you don't know all about me, because I will. If you turn around and take the next plane back to where you came from, lose any information in which you could contact your daughter and her family, then unless one of your boyfriends re-offends, which the Louisiana police will deal with, then I'll leave you alone Otherwise, you hasn't seen all I could do to make your life miserable."_

Former Miami-Dade detective, turned private investigator Yelina Salas waited in her car in the parking lot. When Horatio had called her and told her of Calleigh's problem, Yelina immediately offered to help him. Having worked with Eric and Calleigh before she quit the department following her husband's death she had seen the chemistry between them and had been happy to find out they were finally together. They were on the verge of starting a family and it should have been the happiest time in their lives. Yet someone was trying to spoil that and that knowledge pissed Yelina off. Prior to this Yelina had no idea of Calleigh's anything but happy childhood. Even knowing now it was difficult to comprehend how Calleigh's own mother could be so cold.

Yelina followed the cab that Megan entered when she exited the condominium. Megan drove straight to the airport. She purchased a plane ticket to Baton Rouge. Her flight left in two hours. The private investigator hung around the airport waiting area, leafing through a newspaper. When the boarding call was made, she watched her subject pass through security and board the plane. Yelina remained there till the plane took off. She then called H.

"She's out of here, Horatio," she said.

Now all Calleigh's boss had to made sure of was that Megan didn't return and that she lost Calleigh's number and address.

It was close to eight-thirty when Horatio called his home number and Eric answered. Eric had just managed to get his wife to calm down and get some sleep. Although she was sleeping now Calleigh's muscles were tense. Eric knew Calleigh couldn't get the thought of her mother threatening her future family life out of her head.

"Maybe you could wake her just to let her know that Megan will no longer be a problem. Right now she's on a plane to go back where she came from. You guys should stay there tonight if Calleigh's settled in. I'll stay here and watch your place."

"Thanks, H," Eric said.

"Not a problem, Eric. Not a problem."

Not that he had to, but Horatio had definitely_ earned_ the role of the Delko's unborn baby's godfather in many people's opinions.

_"Calleigh," Eric whispered, laying down next to his wife on the bed in Horatio's bedroom. "Wake up, mi amor."_

_Calleigh opened her eyes. _

_"What is it?" She asked. "What did she do?" _

_"Shh, querida. It's all taken care of. She's gone, sweetheart. She's on a plane back home. H scared the life out her and sent her running. We won't hear from her again."_

_Calleigh heaved a peaceful sigh. Her husband could feel the tension leave her body. He kissed her head._

_"You and baby girl need to go to sleep," Eric said to her, rubbing her belly in circles. "We'll stay here tonight and go home in the morning."_

_Calleigh didn't argue as she cuddled into her husband's bare chest, inhaling his scent. They knew Horatio cared about the child Calleigh and Eric were going to have. There was no question that he and the baby were going to get along well._

_"We definitely have to talk to Horatio tomorrow," she said._

_Eric knew what she meant and couldn't agree more._


	10. Horatio Caine, Godfather

_**Horatio Caine, Godfather**_

The couple left Horatio's place early, before breakfast. Horatio told Calleigh to take the day off; an order issued in a soft but firm Horatio tone. He told Eric he didn't have to come in till after lunch.

Horatio was surprised but truly honored when his friends asked him if he would be the godfather of their child. His answer was an immediate 'yes.' He already cared a great deal for this child. Calleigh and Eric knew Horatio would build a wonderful, close relationship with their daughter. The couple had invited him over for dinner the day after he had got her mother to leave Miami. Eric's sister, Natasha was going to be Nevaeh Delko's godmother.


	11. The Scales

_**The Scales**_

Calleigh sighed but smiled as she stepped onto the scales in her doctor's office. She was twenty-six weeks along and it was getting to be a challenge to see her toes. Eric stood close to her side, he touched her shoulder and flashed her a smile. The digital monitor was turned away from the mother-to-be so neither her or her husband saw what it read. Unless Calleigh asked or the physician was concerned about the patient's weight, she didn't say how much she weighed or how much she gained.

The doctor estimated that the Delkos' baby girl weighed close to two pounds and measured about fourteen inches long.

"She's quite active," the doctor said, feeling Calleigh's belly. The baby girl was kicking. "I don't think she likes being poked. 'Must think I'm invading her space."

Both parents laughed.

_"What's that?" Speed asked Eric seeing a print of Calleigh's latest ultrasound taped to the inside of Eric's locker at the end of the day when both were getting ready to leave for the day. Calleigh was already waiting for him by the elevator, sitting down of course._

_"Mine and Calleigh's lil' girl," he said, taking the print and handing it to his friend to have a closer look. "That was done two weeks ago."_

_"These things got detail," Speed said. "But didn't you guys see the doctor again today? Anything wrong?"_

_"Oh no. Everything's great. Every two weeks is routine now. No ultrasound today."_

"Ready, babe?" Eric said, meeting Calleigh at the elevator.

Calleigh nodded.

They were going to Natasha's, Eric's sister's house for dinner. Natasha and her husband, Lance had three-year-old twins, a girl named Gracie and a boy named Joseph. The two children were very excited about their new cousin and loved touching Calleigh's belly. They always asked first, as their mother had told them to but their aunt never minded and always let them.

Eric was touched during the family visit when Gracie told him he would be a good daddy after he made her feel better when she fell and got hurt.

"Thank you, Gracie," he said, kissing her head. "I love you, too."


	12. Define 'Weird'

_**Define Weird**_

In the short time since the two had officially become a couple Calleigh and Eric had had quite a sex life, and still pregnant and all. They'd had sex in some very different places. While going through a 'toy box' found in the room in an expensive hotel Calleigh chatted with a co-worker. The body of a high-price escort whom the room was registered to and whom the 'toy box' belonged to was found in the alley a short distance from the hotel.

_"Where's the weirdest place you and Eric have ever done it?" DNA analyst Maxine Velera asked Calleigh._

_"Define 'weird'," Calleigh said with a smile. _

_So far the couple had done it in the back of Eric's SUV, a few times while it was parked in the parking garage of the crime lab. Three times they had done it against the wall of the parking garage when it was really late and not even security was around. They had taken care to be in one of the security cameras' blind spots. Then there was the time on top of one of the washing machines in the laundry room of Eric's former apartment building. The machine had been labeled 'out of order.' This was in the middle of the day. It just happened that nobody walked in with their laundry, and their kids in tow. Ah, yes, there were many places._

_"Never mind," Maxine said quickly. "I can tell I don't wanna know."_

Eric thought a pregnant lady was a beautiful sight. The sight of _his_ pregnant lady was not only beautiful but down right _hot_. Pregnancy had increased his wife's appetite for sex and his own as well, not that Eric wouldn't have been happy to indulge even if his sex drive hasn't increased. The two were totally convinced however, even if a conception date couldn't _exactly_ pinned down, that they had conceived their daughter the first time they made love, not the second or third. They had lost count of the number of times they had had sex the first week of their relationship alone. From the moment they confessed their feelings for one another it seemed like they could keep their hands off each other when they were not at work. Privately they laughed, saying they better savor this now because when baby Nevaeh arrived things were definitely going to change.


	13. Strange

_**Strange Sound to the Ears**_

Being called "mommy" in the weeks before she gave birth felt strange to Calleigh's ears, but yet it bought a smile to her face. She wasn't really experienced with little babies, let alone a newborn who was 'still pink around the ears.' The notion of caring for a person so small and dependent, who had only one way to communicate their needs scared her as much as it did her husband_. _However Calleigh was also sure that once their baby was in their arms they would readily face that fear.Neither could wait to see their daughter's face.

Eric would always smile right away at babies and little children. He said he couldn't help it, he thought babies had that affect on everyone.

"I saw John today. He came to the lab to pick up stuff he left at his office," Calleigh said to Eric as they ate dinner at home that evening.

"Me too," Eric said. "He stopped by trace. He said three words to me 'fatherhood, huh, Delko?' Then he scoffed and went on talking to H, like Wolfe and myself weren't in the room."

This behavior didn't surprise Calleigh. John didn't really like anyone in the department which was fitting being not many people in the department liked him. He was arrogant, and a spiteful person who was hard to get along with. John scoffing when he spoke to her husband regarding fatherhood did make Calleigh annoyed.

_Did he think that Eric and her shouldn't be together? That she should be with __him__? That __he__ should be the father of the child she was carrying and not Eric? This guy had the world's biggest ego if he thought Calleigh would ever __consider__ spending any amount of time with him, let alone the rest of her life and raising a family. In the time she had worked with him she had seen he was not just "not good" with children, he was __horrible__. He'd give hard looks to children, who were witnesses to terrifying crimes, at times involving their families, who couldn't tell him what happened or broke down crying if they spoke. She couldn't remember how many times she wanted to smack him._

Neither Eric or Calleigh had heard John say to Horatio "how long do you think they'll last once the baby comes along?" They didn't know their friend and supervisor had answered 'forever.'


	14. Everybody but YOU

_**Everybody but **__**you**_

Calleigh was comfortable enough with most of the team to let them touch her ever-growing belly. John had _tried_ to touch her abdomen when she was standing in front of him for that brief moment. However, the instant she saw his hand inch forward Calleigh gave him a look that said _"don't you dare touch me." _

John got the point and stepped back.

"Good," Eric said, when she told him. He was rubbing his wife's feet while she had her legs up on the sofa.

"Our little girl wouldn't have liked him anyway. She's got better taste," Calleigh smiled.

Daddy Eric never had to ask permission to touch Calleigh and talk to his child. He knew that H, Ryan and Alexx had been offered and accepted an occasional offer to feel her baby kick. Eric didn't mind that, Ryan was a friend, even with the rocky start when Ryan started at the lab. H and Alexx were practically family. Speed was also offered a few times but he had declined, secretly the feeling of an unborn child move under his palm 'creeped him out." He wasn't telling his pregnant friend or her husband that.


	15. Countdown

_**Countdown**_

Another two weeks and Calleigh would be starting maternity leave. She would be twenty-eight weeks pregnant. It seemed surreal to her that she would be seeing her baby girl in the flesh in such a short time. It could been just hormones or a combination of things but She found herself getting emotional every time she thought the little girl she was carrying.

"I already love her so much," Calleigh said, becoming teary-eyed, rubbing her abdomen. "Is that strange? I feel like I already know her but I don't even know what she looks like."

"I know, Sugar," Alexx said when Calleigh told her. "That's normal. And I know you and Eric have wanted this baby for a _long_ time."

That was absolutely true.

Months after they met at work the two found themselves secretly dreaming of being together. Then Eric got shot in the head. Almost two years after that Calleigh had been kidnapped. Coming so close to losing each other forever, twice, made them finally give in to their feelings. Some people would say that Calleigh getting pregnant that first night was just an "ops" from getting lost in the heat of the moment. Sure, Calleigh had realized it was the seven days she was off birth control and there hadn't been a condom on-hand but with five years of pent-up sexual tension lack of contraception was a fast-passing thought. The parents-to-be thought though it wasn't planned, it was only confirmation they were meant to be together.

Calleigh had a quite a high pain threshold and wanted to have her baby without drugs. However, she also knew the _notion of _natural birth was great but then there was reality. There was pain involved and lots of it. Therefore Calleigh knew there about a ninety-eight percent chance she would need drugs.


	16. Last Day

_**Last Day**_

Calleigh sighed and smiled. It was her last day on the job. She stroked her extended abdomen, the baby girl moved.

"Mama knows you're there, sweetpea. It's not going to be long before mama and daddy see you in person."

Now that she was going to be home waiting for the baby to arrive Calleigh hoped she wouldn't go stir-crazy. Work had at least helped her pass the time. She and Eric's mother were going to go shopping for a crib and other furniture for the nursery.

Chlorinda had wanted the couple to paint the room some shade of pink. Calleigh _hated _pink. She had showed Calleigh some bedding and other nursery stuff she liked. _Everything was pink_. The grandmother-to-be showed a nursery display in one catalogue that she _loved_, Calleigh was honest and said "I think it looks like an explosion inside a bubble gum factory." It had already decided the room was going to be lilac. It was still going to be a "princess" room, with Disney Princess stickers on the walls. She did like the white furniture her mother-in-law had picked out though. It matched the lilac room nicely.

As much as Eric and Calleigh argued, his parents wouldn't budge. They paid for the nursery set. Neither wanted to think about what major purchase the couple would make next, Pavel and Chlorinda went overboard with every one of their grandchildren. Calleigh had already purchased the bassinet the baby would use for the first few months. It was at the foot of their bed.

Knowing the color of the nursery ahead of time Chlorinda had a lilac blanket embodied with her granddaughter's name. Sensing the mother-to-be's aversion to the color pink Eric's mother reminded herself to go easy on the pink clothes.


	17. Pampers, Poker & Baby Shoes

_**Pampers, Poker and Baby Shoes**_

Calleigh sighed and closed her eyes again. It was her first day on maternity leave. She felt Eric kiss her forehead and murmur "Love you, both" before heading out to work. It was getting surreal for Eric as well that he was going to be a father soon. He was never so scared yet so excited in his whole life. And he was not all disappointed that he was having a daughter, not a son. He couldn't wait to hold that little baby.

Everyone at the lab was excited about the baby. The same Saturday Natasha threw a baby show for Calleigh at her mother's house, the male staff at the lab gave Eric a "pamper party" where in lieu of a gift of baby clothes or a toy and silly games, they gave Eric money—or a pack of diapers. However Horatio left a baby gift that Eric waited for Calleigh to open. Then they drank beer, watched baseball and played poker. For the first time since Calleigh moved into the unit it became a "man cave"—till she came home. The "man cave" was cleaned up by the time she got home though. Ryan and his OCD proved to be an asset in getting things spotless.

"I see Ryan helped," Calleigh said with a smile, looking at the clean counter tops.

"Yeah," Eric laughed. "If he ever needs another job he could always work for crime scene clean up."

"I think I got us a good month's worth of pampers and a bunch of cash we'll go through quickly," he said as the two kissed.

"I did well, too," Calleigh said. "At least three months worth of clothes. Didn't know you could get sneakers and jeans so tiny, and cute."

Eric smiled "oh, and no surprise H left us something from Babies R Us, along with giving us money. Didn't open it yet though."

The present Horatio left was an infant bouncey seat.

"I've seen this. I think she'll like it," Calleigh said.

Eric said "What do we have left to get now? Carseat? Swing?"

"Those and the stroller and playpen. But those last two might be able to wait a short while. She won't need them right away," Calleigh replied. "And Alexx gave me a jumbo gift card for this same store to help get a carseat of our choice since we 're gonna need that right away."


	18. Wimps

_**Wimps**_

"I'm _dying!_" Eric said, sneezing for fifth time, starting to cough. He was laying on the sofa.

A male with a flu is just overgrown baby.

Calleigh scoffed at him from the recliner across the room. She wasn't in the mood for a man whining about sniffles and coughing. She had real complaints; her ankles were swollen, her back hurt and she had to pee every twenty minutes. Not to mention she couldn't see her feet anymore and finding a comfortable sleeping position was _impossible_. She was thirty weeks pregnant; the doctor said she hoped Calleigh would carry till thirty-six weeks otherwise the baby would be premature.

"It's just the flu. _Grow up!_ I'm the one who should be whining," she said to her husband. "God, you men are such _wimps!_ You try going through _half_ of this."

Eric smiled despite his wife's tone and mood.

_Ouch_, he thought. _Frank was right, never whine about the flu to a very pregnant woman._

"I'm sorry, baby," Calleigh apologized just a second later. "It's just— "

Eric rose from the couch, went over to Calleigh and kissed the top of her head.

"Hey. No, don't apologize, mi amor. It's all right. Do you want something to drink?"

"Apple juice, please."

Eric didn't mind his wife's mood swings. He really didn't. She had a _human being_ growing inside her. That _had_ to be taxing in every way possible.

"I love you. Don't you ever doubt that, Cal," Eric said, bringing her the drink.


	19. Hurry Up & Wait

_**Hurry Up & Wait**_

Eric squeezed his wife's hand as she breathed through another contraction. He gently wiped her brow with a cool clothe. To their relief, Calleigh hadn't had to be induced; she had gone into labor naturally just five days after her estimated due date. At 5:10am they had arrived at Dade Memorial Hospital. Alexx had shown up just moments after they had. She insisted, and the couple were glad she would be around for extra support. She would pop in the labor & delivery room when needed or wanted, otherwise she would hang around the waiting room.

_"You're doing great, Cal," Eric whispered to her, kissing her cheek softly. "I'm so proud of you."_

_Alexx entered the room quietly, letting the door close behind her with a soft click._

_"The anesthesiologist is on his way," she told both. "How ya doing. sugar?" She asked Calleigh._

_"I'm looking forward to meeting him," Calleigh huffed._

_Alexx smiled and squeezed her friend's hand._

_"You're almost half way there, baby," she told her friend. "Before you know it, you'll have your baby girl in your arms."_

Calleigh was four centimeters and a half dilated after three hours at the hospital.

Eric stepped out of the room but Alexx stayed when the anesthesiologist administered his wife's epidural. He was surprised to see his friend, boss and his daughter-to-be's godfather in the door of the waiting room. Seeing Horatio Caine in a pair of blue jeans and grey t-shirt was just as big a surprise as seeing him here at this hour. It took the Cuban a second to recognize the red-head.

_"Eric," Horatio said, stepping out into the hall. "Everything okay?"_

_The lieutenant knew the kind of man his CSI was; he wouldn't just leave the room when his wife was in labor unless he was forced to, __or__ he was __asked__ and then Calleigh said it was all right._

_"Yeah. The doctor's giving Calleigh her epidural. Alexx thought I should come out here till he's done." Then it crossed Eric's mind. "What are you doing here?" He knew they had only called Alexx before they left for the hospital; Eric had called his parents after they checked into the hospital. They weren't at the hospital, they were anxious waiting for a phone call at their little Havana home._

_Horatio smiled. "Alexx called everyone. Frank, Natalia and Ryan are here, too."_

Alexx stepped out of the room then, followed by the anesthesiologist and his cart.

"You can go back in now, baby," Alexx said to Eric.

Eric nodded to his boss.

"Talk to you later, H," he said.

Horatio smiled and nodded.

According to his sister, although it was worth it, getting the epidural hurt like a bitch. Eric hoped it hadn't been too bad for Calleigh. He hadn't heard any screams or swearing from her, something Calleigh wouldn't hesitate to do so he assumed it hadn't been as bad.

"Hey," he said, kissing Calleigh on the top of her head. "Ya all right? It wasn't too bad?"

Calleigh was smiling now, she certainly wasn't before so her husband knew the epidural had to be working.

"It wasn't exactly painless but in comparison, I'll take it," she said.

Eric chuckled, sitting down on a chair next to the bed, taking his wife's hand, the one with the I.V. in it.

"I guess we're in for some more hurry up and wait," he said. "You know everyone from the team is out there."

"Yeah. Alexx told me. I guess our girl got an audience waitin' for her."

The nurse came into the room and advised Calleigh she should try and get some sleep before the next phase of her labor. Eric lay with his wife in the hospital bed, facing her, stroking her cheek and hair. No longer feeling intense pain Calleigh felt herself starting to fall asleep, she didn't fight it, knowing she was going to need the energy for later.

"You should get some sleep, too," she told Eric.

"I will," he promised, "as soon as you close your eyes."


	20. Welcome

_**Welcome Little Girl!**_

Eric hadn't felt so much emotion bubble up inside him since the moment he and Calleigh kissed for the first time. He swallowed hard to keep his emotions under control. Right now he had help his wife through the final hurdle of bringing their long-awaited daughter into the world.

Alexx had checked on her friends just before their doctor Calleigh was fully dilated and ready to push. She left the room wanting to let the couple greet their daughter alone, of course if they needed her and asked to come back in, she would do so. The doctor explained and then adjusted Calleigh's epidural so that she wouldn't feel all the pain but she feel the contractions so she could push effectively. She told the couple she would that a few moments to take effect, then she and a nurse began set the room up for the delivery.

"Eric," Calleigh whimpered, a tear running down the corner of her eyelid. "I'm scared."

Eric knew she was scared of this last phase of labor, scared she wouldn't be to get through it and also scared because she didn't want to feel the pain again. He had seen the look of fear flash in her eyes when the physician had said the epidural was being lowered, her brain screamed _no, don't!_

"Hey," he said, wiping the tear away with his thumb. "Sweetheart, _You can do this!_ You're so strong. I'll help you every step of the way, Calleigh. Every time it hurts, think of our baby, okay? "

Eric could tell in less than five minutes that his wife was now feeling much more. He squeezed her hand as the top of the bed was raised slightly and Calleigh's legs were put in the stirrups. Calleigh gulped nervously. The doctor noticed.

"Calleigh," the woman said in a tone to comfort her patient. "Calleigh, look at me."

The CSI looked at the other woman.

"You're going to be _fine_. All right? We're going to do this at a slow, steady pace. Eric's here, he's going to help you and we're going to help you, too. Okay?"

Calleigh nodded.

"You know what to do, dad?" The nurse asked Eric. "You know how this is done? You guys went to prenatal classes?"

Eric nodded. "Yeah. I know." He knew right now he had to steady both his nerves and emotions and be totally calm to coach his wife through the last of her labor.

_In the Waiting Room..._

Alexx re-entered the waiting room, looking emotional to her anxious co-workers.

"Alexx?" Horatio said. "Everything okay?"

Alexx smiled. "It's going to be _very_ soon."

_Meanwhile, back in the labor room..._

_"_Okay Calleigh," Eric whispered to his wife, one arm supporting her shoulders and holding her other hand. "Push, two, three, four.."

_"Oh my god!"_ Calleigh cried out._ "It hurts! Eric, I can't!"_

"Calleigh," Eric said, taking his wife's face into his hands. "Listen to me, querida. I know it hurts. I believe you. But you need to push. Put everything into the push, get mad, get mad at me if you need to. Keep pushing and I promise this will all over and you'll be holding our baby."

If the team thought they found the next hour and ten minutes long, it was a thousand times longer for Calleigh.

Calleigh lay back on the bad, panting, perspiration glistening on her face. Although he didn't say it Eric thought she was a beautiful sight.

"You're doing excellent, Calleigh," the doctor told the tired woman. "Just relax till the next one. Take some deep breaths. You're almost there. I can see the top of her head. She's got lots of dark hair."

The clock on the wall read 12:34pm. That time would forever be etched in Eric's memory as the first time he heard his daughter cry. He wasn't ashamed that tears were running down his face or that he could barely speak he felt so emotional. Both he and Calleigh were sobbing as the doctor laid the wailing, slippery, dark-haired baby girl on his wife's abdomen. Neither said anything immediately, both just taking in the first sight of their daughter.

"She's so beautiful," Calleigh breathed.

Eric couldn't agree more. The newborn had her mother's nose, big brown eyes and a full head of black hair.

"Wanna do the honors, dad?" The nurse said, cleaning the baby off, handing Eric a pair of scissors to cut his daughter's umbilical cord.

Eric nodded, taking the scissors. He walked over with the nurse a moment later for the baby to get weighed and measured. Nevaeh Hope Delko weighed seven pounds, fifteen ounces, just an ounce off of eight pounds and was twenty-one inches long.

The nurse knew and moments after the birth stepped into the waiting room.

"Alexx?" She called her over to the doorway.

Alexx went to the door quickly.

"It's a girl," the nurse told Alexx with a smile. "Seven pounds, fifteen ounces. Take a look," she said, handing Alexx Eric's phone. He had taken the baby's picture after the baby was swaddled after being weighed. "She looks like her papi. He said to show everyone."

Everybody understood that the couple wasn't taking any visitors right now. They had the nurse pass along the message they wanted them to come back in a few hours because they did want them to meet their miracle as soon as possible.


	21. Advantages

_**Advantages**_

Having worked at Dade Memorial Hospital before she became an M.E. at the crime lab had its advantages for Alexx. She were able to get the hospital to allow her and the team to come in past visiting hours, even if it was for just a half hour. The group arrived at 7p.m. and were told by a nurse they could go on in. The baby had already fed and was ready for visitors.

All of them smiled when they walked into the room, seeing a smiling Eric holding his child. Wrapped in a blanket, the newborn wore a purple and white stripped sleeper that read _I Love Daddy._ Nevaeh seemed quite curious about the new people in the room. Horatio got to hold Nevaeh first being her godfather and all. They didn't know if anyone else was surprised but the new parents weren't to see how calm Horatio was holding their baby or how at ease Nevaeh was with him.

"Hello sweetheart," Horatio said to the baby, kissing her brow. Watching this, Nevaeh's parents could see the affection in his eyes. "You're a very beautiful little girl, do you know that?"

Frank, having two daughters who were now in their teens was confident in his ability to hold a newborn.

"Your daddy dressed you, didn't he?" He smiled at the baby.

Yep, Eric had picked out his child's first sleeper and a nurse had helped him dress the baby. He had even changed her diaper.

Alexx, too, was comfortable in her ability, being the mother of two. She told baby Nevaeh how lucky she was to have Eric and Calleigh as parents, that she was going to have a life full of love. This caused the new mother to smile and a tear of happiness to come to her eye.

"Now, Alexx," Calleigh said with a laugh. "Don't start. I can't hear that and have dry eyes yet."

Neither Ryan and Natalia had held a tiny baby before, or so they both said. And by nervous they looked when Nevaeh was being placed with them it had to be quite true. The tension they both felt was evident because their baby felt it and began to cry. Eric took the baby and gave her back to her mom. Nevaeh stopped crying as soon as she was with her dad. She closed her eyes when she was placed back in Calleigh's arms.

No surprise to anyone, Eric was staying the night with his wife and baby daughter, sleeping on the love seat that was in the room. The hospital often let new dads do this and in fact, most encouraged it, believing it helped facilitate the bonding process. Nevaeh was in a basinet in the room with them being she was nursing every two hours. They had tried the formula they were going to supplement with and Nevaeh's digestive system did just fine with it. Now that the new parents knew that, Calleigh wanted to breast-feed as exclusively as possible for next few weeks so her milk would come in and so her baby and her could get comfortable with it. She really hoped breast-feeding would work out and she hoped to do so till Nevaeh was four months of age. However, if it didn't work out that way, the new mother wasn't going to punish herself.

Eric wanted to get Calleigh and their baby home as soon as he could. His wife was just as anxious to get away from the hospital with her daughter. And it wasn't like they were going to get overwhelmed and exhausted, Eric's parents were going to help them and make sure Calleigh got enough sleep while recovering for childbirth and while both adjusted to being parents. The last thing the grandparents wanted was for the new parents to get too exhausted to enjoy the baby and her first days. And knowing what it was like being a new mom who was nursing, Chlorinda knew how to help, not take over and interfere.

_This is Nevaeh's sleeper.. Copy & paste this link: **.?quantity=1&itemNumber=22996&type=Product**_


	22. Meeting the Rest of the Family

_**Meeting the rest of the family**_

Nevaeh's first day at home was a bit of a whirlwind, but a happy one. The baby got to meet her aunt and godmother Natasha as well as her grandparents. Nana and pop-pop Delko were going to come and help out during the next week but would be leaving in the evening. They knew what it was like to want to have your newborn all to yourself during the night, no matter how tired you were.

Calleigh was happy that so far both she and Nevaeh were at ease with breast-feeding.

"C'mere mi princesa hermosa," Eric said to the baby, picking her up when she woke up. "You're hungry, aren't you? I see you trying to eat your fingers." Nevaeh had her dad's mouth as well as his eyes.

Eric had enjoyed having his family over but was glad to have his family all to himself again. Calleigh was sitting on the couch. She smiled at Eric when he bought the baby to her.

"You want anything?" He asked, giving Calleigh a peck on the forehead as she began to nurse their daughter.

"You could sit with us," she said with a smile.

"My pleasure," Eric said, propping his wife's legs up on his lap. "You two are a beautiful sight, you know," he said to Calleigh.

"I still can't believe we finally have her," she said, rubbing the soft hair of her daughter's temple. "She has my nose but she looks like you, you know."

Parenthood was still surreal to Eric as well. He had always dreamed of being a father. After he survived being shot in the head, his desire for a family of his own, and his love for Calleigh Duquesne grew immensely. Then when Calleigh was ambushed, kidnaped and threatened with death, he realized he couldn't live without her. For years he kept his love for her a secret, afraid it would destroy the friendship he valued so much. Though he dreamed of her love, Eric would rather have had Calleigh's friendship than nothing. He couldn't stop himself from telling her his deepest feelings once Calleigh was rescued and to everyone's relief, unharmed. It floored him and made him the happiest man in Miami to hear she had felt the same for him for a long time. It had taken seeing Eric laying in the bed in the ICU with a bullet fragment in his brain for her to realize she was in love with him but she hadn't told him till now. Conceiving their daughter, the greatest gift both had ever given on that same night was a true sign to both they were meant to be together.

"What ya thinkin' about?" Eric asked.

Calleigh seemed lost in thought.

"Just how it took so much for me to admit to myself that we were a fit and to get to this point," she said.

"Hey," her husband replied, rubbing her thighs. "Don't think about that. All that matters is now, right?"

His wife gave him a smile.

"You're right," she replied. "And don't you even _try_ to apologize for me going through childbirth. You have nothin' to apologize for; you were there and did everything for me you possibly could."

"Okay," Eric chuckled.

_**Translations**_

_mi princesa hermosa - _my beautiful princess


	23. The Story Part I

_**The Story of Your Mami & Papi**_

Calleigh Delko smiled listening to her husband talk to their three-day-old daughter in Spanish. They both intended to teach their baby Spanish from the beginning but it wasn't like there was going to an exclusive language at home. Both were going to speak to Nevaeh in whichever language came out of their mouth.

_"Usted sabe usted esta preciosamente al mami y al papi?" She heard him say. _

Nevaeh was going to know how precious she was to them every day, every moment of her life in the future.

"Did she answer ya, daddy?" Calleigh asked when he came back into the room from the nursery. "Does she know how precious she is?"

Eric smiled. "She didn't answer me but I think she does."

For years there was an unofficial, unwritten rule at the department that officers couldn't become romantically involved and remain on the same shift. The Delkos had "got in under the wire" so to speak. The rule had only come official last Tuesday. That meant officers who were already involved or married were unaffected, unless a specific pair were proving they couldn't effectively work together. Neither Calleigh or Eric were worried about their ability to work together and be professional once Calleigh went back to work. Neither's relationships had been really serious but they both had dated co-workers before and had been able to keep things professional then too. Eric was taking a month off to be with Calleigh and Nevaeh. The first week he called in sick and then the department offered three weeks paternity leave. Eric was definitely taking it.

Horatio called his friends the fourth day that they had their child home. He asked shyly if he could come over to see his goddaughter. He hadn't seen Nevaeh since the hospital.

"_Sure!_" Eric said. "You got good timing. She just woke up."

"Who's that?" His wife asked.

"H. He wants to come over and see our precious princess."

Calleigh smiled. She looked forward to seeing how Horatio would interact with their baby. The lieutenant had been wonderful with Nevaeh at the hospital when she wasn't even a day old. It was evident he already loved Nevaeh very much. Both were looking forward to seeing how Horatio was with the baby in a home environment.

"Just wait till you're old enough to play with toys, lil' one," Calleigh said, giving her baby an Eskimo kiss. "Your uncle's gonna have you spoiled. See that over there?" she said, turning the baby so Nevaeh could see the bouncey seat.

"He gave you that. You're a bit too tiny for it yet but I think you'll enjoy it. See all the pretty rings?" Calleigh said about the colorful toys in baby's reach in the front.

After four days, fatigue was slowly starting to set in for the new parents. When uncle Horatio came over and told the couple they should go take a break and he'd take care of his goddaughter till they got up the two agreed.

"I just fed and changed her, diapers are in the room and there's a bottle in the frig," Calleigh told Horatio, eager for rest and totally comfortable with their friend caring for Nevaeh.

"Okay," Horatio replied. "Say 'night mommy, night daddy. Have a good sleep.'" he said, waving the baby's hand at her parents.

The loving way that Horatio spoke to their child made both Mami and Papi smile. They knew the newborn would be happy with him while they slept. The couple fell asleep almost immediately once they both got comfortable in bed. They didn't get to hear Horatio tell their daughter a story. The story of her Mami and Papi.

_"I bet mommy and daddy have told you just how much they love you and how special you are. A lot of people love you. _

_"I've known mommy and daddy for a long time. I tell you, sweetheart, I knew from the moment they met, that mommy and daddy were meant to be together. The day mommy started working at the lab the second they saw each other they froze. They don't know I know this. They don't know I saw them. Your dad's never been shy but when he laid eyes on your mom he looked and sounded like a teenage boy again. I think he almost forget his own name. I laughed._

_"And your mom blushed __**really**__ bad when your dad smiled at her. She had to look away from him. I guess she didn't want him to see it. It didn't take long for them to become best friends and everyone could see it. I think they fell in love with each other in less than a year, maybe two at the most. And although it was __**so **__**obvious**__ to the entire world, and they both knew it deep down, it took a long time and both daddy and mommy going through very bad things for them to finally say those three little words. It's not my place, when you're old enough they'll tell what those bad things were._

_"I've seen them happier than I ever seen in the whole time I've known them. You're a truly special girl, Nevaeh."_


	24. The Story Part II

_**My Best Friend: The Story of Mami & Papi Part II**_

_From their Point of View_

That was true. They had been each other's best friend since they could remember. And now they could both admit they had started to fall in love with each other within a year or so. Calleigh genuinely thought her heart had stopped beating when dispatch mistakenly reported over the radio that Eric was dead. She drove straight to Miami General in a daze and _demanded_ answers from the ER nurse. At first she wouldn't tell Calleigh a thing when she asked where she and Ryan, who had just arrived saying he heard Delko was dead and wanted to know what was going on, could go to donate blood for Officer Delko, finally Calleigh demanded an answer, "professional to professional."

The nurse then told them "_your friend is beyond blood and plasma. They've been working on him for the past fifteen minutes. He didn't respond in the next five, they'll call it."_

Both Calleigh and Ryan stood in stunned silence. Calleigh had to force herself to breathe again. Horatio watched helplessly through the glass on the Trauma Unit door. He couldn't believe this were happening, Clavo Cruz wanted _him_ shot, not Eric. The moron security guard had shot Eric instead. It was supposed to be _him_ on that stretcher, not Eric. If Eric died, Horatio would never be able to live with himself. Even if Eric lived he would barely be able to stomach the guilt he felt.

The paddles weren't working to restart the Cuban's heart; an adrenaline shot straight to his heart muscle was his last chance. Eric's brain had already been without oxygen for almost twenty minutes. Even if he survived, the chances were high he'd suffer some sort of brain damage.

"Get me an epicardium needle, _now!_" The doctor bellowed.

The large needle stabbed directly into his heart, restarted the organ. The monitor immediately started to beep, showing a squiggly line. Eric's eyes jolted open and he made a loud gasp for air, the upper half of his body popping up before he fell back down and into an unconscious state.

But he was alive.

Everyone knew and Alexx had told them, Eric was not out of woods, yet. He could still die. And even if he did survive, there was no way of telling what extent of brain damage he could have. He may wake up and not be the same Eric they knew. The team took turns watching over their colleague in the ICU. Twenty minutes each time, per hospital regulations.

It hit Calleigh like a bomb. She loved Eric Delko. She was in love with her best friend. Yet even in the privacy of just two of them in the room and him unconscious, probably not able to hear her anyway, she didn't have the nerve to tell him how she felt. Even though she still could lose him one way or the other.

He was alive, and awake. Brain damage or not, Eric Delko was determined to get his life back. And he wasn't angry with his best friend, Horatio. So the bullet that was lodged in his head had been meant for H; he didn't blame H for that. He blamed that miserable waste of life named Clavo Cruz and the imbecile who agreed to shot a cop in exchange for $100,000 to pay off his luxury car. Brain damage that included memory loss or not, the one thing nothing in the world could make him forget just how he loved a woman named Calleigh. Still, even after teetering on the edge of death he couldn't bring himself to say how he felt.

Neither was Eric angry that Horatio had shot and killed Clavo Cruz hours after his shooting. After Horatio had removed Clavo's every avenue of escape, Clavo had showed up at the station, wanting suicide by cop, specifically by Horatio Caine, whom he saw as a worthy opponent.

_Calleigh's been kidnaped_. The words rang in his ears over and over. When he told disgraced former lab employee Dan Cooper that if anything happened to Calleigh because he had posted her cell phone number on the web, that he would come back and kill him, it wasn't a threat but a promise.

Eric had no doubt he would have and now be in jail; And he wouldn't care. His life was nothing without her in it.

It was going to be years before their child knew any of this, even in child-appropriate information. When she became a toddler and began to talk, Nevaeh was bound to ask daddy where he got the scar on the back of his head. The one where he was shot. He wasn't worried about explaining it. The explanation of "daddy got hurt at work a few years ago" would satisfy a young child.

Hopefully.

Walking her to the hummer following her rescue Eric couldn't hold back his feelings any longer.

That night was the start of their life together.


	25. Seventh Day in Heaven

_**Seventh Day in Heaven**_

Most people agreed that you could never hold your newborn 'too much' or 'spoil' them. The outside world was a new and scary place for them. Being in someone's arms made newborns feel safe. It didn't matter what _anybody_ told them neither Calleigh or Eric was going to hold Nevaeh less. As for Calleigh getting things done around the house once she was on her own with Nevaeh when Eric returned to work the new mother thought the baby bjorn that Alexx had given her at the baby shower would come in handy.

Besides finally meeting her daughter, Calleigh was glad ro have the pregnancy over for another reason; she could have her beloved café mocha again, even if it was limited because she was breast-feeding. For eight months Calleigh didn't know how she hadn't killed her husband. If Eric was around he wouldn't let her have the caffeinated drink and if he saw her with it, he would take it from her. The chances of her killing him for this prior to their pregnancy were about seventy percent; the chances of him being murdered for it _during_ her pregnancy were a hundred and ten percent.

Eric had lucked out only because there was just too many witnesses around.

"Good morning, sweetpea," Calleigh said picking up her daughter from the bassinet, kissing her nose and cheeks. "We're going on a little trip this morning."

Calleigh was never a morning person but ever since the baby had been born she couldn't help but wake up with a smile hearing Nevaeh at the foot of the bed.

The couple were taking the baby to the lab to introduce her to everyone this morning. After she nursed their baby, Eric offered to get the baby dressed and ready while Calleigh took a shower.

"And I'll even buy you a café mocha on the way to the lab," Eric told Calleigh with a grin.

"Aren't you sweet," Calleigh said with a smile.

"Your toes are so teeny tiny," Eric cooed to his little girl as he put a pair of pink socks on her feet.

He had dressed the baby in a tiny pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt with pink lettering that said _100% Angel_. Eric had had this shirt specially made the week he and Calleigh found out they were having a little girl.

"Don't you look pretty," she said to Nevaeh when they were ready to leave. "Daddy's very good at picking out your clothes."

The Miami weather was very warm that day, even the newborn didn't need much clothing. Tucking a blanket securely around his daughter in her carrier, Eric smiled. He thought the t-shirt was very fitting.

"You are an angel, aren't you, princesa?" He said, kissing her forehead.

The family came at a good time; Yelina Salas had dropped to talk to Horatio and Rick Stetler was out of town. The couple had known since before their baby was born that Yelina had helped run her mother out of town. She had sent them a congratulatory e-mail when Horatio had told her the news. Today would be the first time the private investigator would see the girl.

"_She's a doll!"_ Yelina said.

Eric smiled.

"You wanna hold her?"

Stupid question.

Yelina smiled watching the baby's big chocolate brown eyes study her.

"You look like your daddy," she said to the baby in her arms. "Sorry Calleigh."

Calleigh laughed.

She cornered Ryan when he sat on the break room sofa. Frank was holding Nevaeh. Calleigh told Ryan that holding a baby wasn't rocket-science and not anything to be afraid of. He had to get over it.

"Put your arms like this," she said, positioning Ryan's arms. "Frank, the baby."

Frank obediently put Nevaeh in Ryan's arms.

Ryan was fine for a moment.

Then it happened.

Nevaeh sneezed. A tiny baby sneeze. Most people would have said "aww! That's so sweet!" Ryan's reaction was different, and amusing to those watching.

"What was that? Is she okay? Is she supposed to do that?" Ryan asked, trying to stay calm so Nevaeh wouldn't start crying like the last time he held her.

"A sternutation," Alexx answered him.

"A what?" Ryan asked, his eyes getting big.

"A sneeze, Wolfe," Eric said, rolling his eyes. "And yeah, babies can do that."

"How's being a mommy so far?" Natalia asked Calleigh.

"Good. She's a good baby. She lets us get a little bit of sleep," Calleigh replied with a smile. "Eric's awesome with her."

Both women looked over at Eric who was across the room holding his daughter, feeding her a bottle while talking to one of the female lab techs. This woman's sister was pregnant and she planned to be with her sister for the baby's birth.

"Were you there? What was it like?" Asking Eric _if_ he had been present for Nevaeh's birth was a rhetorical question and he knew that.

"It was incredible," Eric said, emotionally, looking down at his daughter. She was drinking contentedly, making the sweetest noises he ever heard. "No. It was beyond that. I can't put into words what it was like when I saw her for the first time and heard her cry."

Before the three left the lab Frank gave them a gift he said he thought was appropriate for the baby since Horatio was her godfather, a pair of baby sunglasses. Putting the shades on the baby's face Calleigh thought her daughter looked very cute.

"We're going to have to take your picture with those," she said to the baby.

"You look like a little rock star," Eric told Nevaeh.


	26. How Old Are You Again?

_**How Old Are You Again?**_

The couple were still laughing about Ryan on the way home.

"It would have been funny if she had blown a lawn all over him. Wolfe would probably scream like a girl and run away at the sight of A booger."

"_Eric!_" Calleigh said, slapping her husband's arm. "How old are you two? Twelve?"

"More like ten." Eric grinned.

Horatio had been in a meeting with the D.A. across town at the courthouse during their visit. He was going to be disappointed when he got back to find out he missed seeing his goddaughter.

"Calleigh and Eric's daughter is _so_ cute! They were here a while ago," Claudia, the receptionist told Horatio when he came get to his message upon his return to the lab.

"I missed my girl! Oh man!" He said.

Mommy and Daddy didn't have a problem with Horatio calling Nevaeh that.

As much as he loved the baby girl, Horatio wanted to give the family their space. It had been two days since he had seen them. He called Eric when they got home.

"As your supervisor, I'm ordering you while you're on leave the next time you plan to bring the baby to the lab, that you call in advance, so that I can make sure I'm here," Horatio told Eric in the most authoritative tone he could muster. "Am I understood, officer Delko?"

"Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," Eric said when he answered the phone. "You have my word it won't happen again."

Calleigh looked at her husband inquisitively. She didn't know who he could be talking to like that.

Then Eric smiled.

"Since you're already feeling guilty, did you know Nevaeh was looking around for you when we got there. She was sad to see her uncle weren't there."

"She did not!" Calleigh know it was Horatio on the line now. She snatched the phone from Eric.

Horatio told Calleigh about the warning he had given Eric.

"And the same goes for you, Officer Duquesne."

"Yes sir," Calleigh said seriously and then breaking into a laugh. "You can come over this evening. Tripp gave her a pair of shades she wants to see."

"Okay," Horatio said with a smile.

The fact that his wife didn't change her last name on the job didn't bother Eric. He knew it made things simpler. They had many co-workers who had done the same. Outside the lab, his wife referred to herself as Calleigh Delko. Plus it helped during investigations that they not introduce themselves with the last name.


	27. Too Soon For Daddy

_Sorry for the delay, people! I've been internet-less for two days! I'll hopefully be back up and running by Friday! I'm posting this chapter using a visitor's laptop._

_**Too Soon**_

Eric heaved a heavy sigh hearing the alarm clock, 6:15am.

This day had come too soon. This day was his first day back at work as a dad. He had purposely got up and gave Nevaeh her 2:45am her bottle. Calleigh didn't argue with him; she knew Eric wanted that extra time with his daughter being he wasn't going to see her all day for the first time since she'd been born.

'Bye-bye daddy. 'I love you. See you later,'" Calleigh said for her baby when Eric was at the door to love.

He smiled and kissed Nevaeh's face.

"Bye princesa. I love you, too. Be good for mommy. I'll see you tonight. Love you," he said, kissing Calleigh.

"Love you, too. Be careful."

The CSI intended to do that. Wanting to come home safe was now Eric's number one priority. Sure he always had hoped to come home unharmed before but life wasn't just about him anymore. He had promised Calleigh on their wedding day that they would grow old together. Nevaeh deserved to have her daddy around as she grew up.

"Hard to leave the house this morning, baby?" Alexx asked.

The M.E. had walked into the break room while Eric was pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"You have no idea. Or I guess you would," Eric gave her a tiny smile. "Sorry."

Alexx smiled back at her co-worker.

"Don't worry about it, Eric," she replied. "It's hard for a first little while, even for daddies. It gets easier."

Not caring who heard him say it or if he got made fun of by other males Eric told Alexx he "_so_ envied" the fact that his wife got to stay home with Neveah for a year. Of course one of them had to work full-time to support the family. That didn't mean Eric had to _enjoy_ being away from his wife and daughter. He said he wondered how many 'firsts' he'd miss while he was at work.

Alexx thought that sediment was sweet and she wasn't surprised to hear it from Eric because he was already such a dotting father.

"Nevaeh's a daddy's girl. I'm sure she'll save some of her firsts for when you're there to see them."

Calleigh hadn't checked about the possibility of working part-time hours after her maternity leave expired with Human Resources yet .It was too soon. It wasn't in the lab but they had broached the subject with Horatio. Understanding where Calleigh was coming from, he said if there was anything he could do to help the new mother get those hours he would. The parents had the child care issue taken care of. Eric's mother and his sister, Natasha were going to take turns caring for Nevaeh once Calleigh returned to work. Both parents hoped Calleigh could get part-time hours. Even if her babysitters were her aunt and grandmother they didn't want Nevaeh spending more time with them then her own parents. A pay cut would mean less money for the family both the couple agreed that it was worth it.

_If_ they hadn't been able to come up with a child care solution _and_ Calleigh's only option was to go back to work full-time, rather then have Nevaeh spend the majority of her waking hours away from them both, despite the fact it would put the screws on them financially, Calleigh would quit her job till the baby was old enough to start school.


	28. Time with Mommy & Winnie

_I don't know what kind of navel Eric/Adam R. has. I'm only guessing! :) I watched the motel episode but was too busy screaming "drop the towel! Drop the towel!" to notice! :) LOL_

_**Winnie the Pooh & The Honey Tree**_

"You're getting to be such a big girl," Calleigh said sweetly to her daughter. "You have a belly button like daddy's."

The girl's umbilical cord stump had fallen off a few days prior revealing she had an 'outie.' Mommy and daddy had both given her first real bath that evening. Being neither had bathed a newborn before. They had spread a bunch of towels out on the living room and put the filled up baby bath on the living room floor, figuring a bath at "ground level" was the safest bet till they were more comfortable.

Nevaeh had her fingers in her mouth, her dark eyes darting around the room. Her mom was changing her diaper. Calleigh smiled at the baby. It was a no-brainer that their baby would have dark hair and brown eyes. Every time she looked at Nevaeh's eyes she saw Eric.

"You and daddy have the most beautiful eyes," she said. "I bet you're wondering where he went. You haven't seen him since he gave you kisses this morning. Daddy had to go back to work today. Don't worry he'll be home soon and he'll tell you more stories."

Calleigh never heard the'stories' Eric were telling their baby daughter but he knew they were 'stories' because she would often hear her husband say 'are you ready for another story?' Those 'stories' were about mommy and daddy. She had heard him tell Nevaeh about the first time mommy and daddy met, some of it anyway.

_"Uncle Horatio told all of us that there was a new ballistics expert starting that day; that's mommy's job. I didn't think much of it. I had to go to ballistics lab to drop off somethin' and there I saw your mom for the first time._

_"Well, daddy walked through the door and there she was. She had her hair in a ponytail and she wore a pink shirt under her lab coat. She was gorgeous, and that hadn't changed. When she said 'hi' to me and introduced herself, daddy could barely talk. She had the most beautiful smile. I never got like that with anybody before. I had to think to remember my name and tell her 'I'm Officer Delko. Call me Eric.'_

_"I got to know her and she quickly became my best friend, someone I could talk to anytime, about anything and who could tell if I was hiding if something was wrong. "_

_Eric smiled at the expression Nevaeh put on her face._

_"Let me explain. I know that I told you before that_ _I love_ _Uncle H and that he can do the same thing. But that's different. He is like my big brother. That's part of the reason he's your godfather; we know how much he loves you and that he would take wonderful care of you..."_

It wasn't news to her that her husband loved Horatio like a brother. Horatio felt the same about Eric. Calleigh stepped away from the nursery door. This was daddy and baby time she didn't want intrude on. Some time she would tell their daughter about meeting daddy and how she never expected to find a best friend in someone she worked with.

Calleigh thought a child was never too young to start watching _Winnie the Pooh_. After the baby had a clean diaper she put in the DVD _The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh._ Calleigh still enjoyed the episodes _The Honey Tree, A Day for Eeyore and Pooh's blustery Day._ She sat down on the sofa with Nevaeh in her lap, just enjoying the simpleness of the animation and enjoying the feeling of her daughter in her arms.

Although the first day away from his daughter had been a struggle for Eric, moments before he signed out to go home something happened to make his day and cause his sides to hurt with laughter.

_A young mother had come in to thank Ryan for figuring out and arresting the guy who had been __stalking her and who had broken into her home. The woman had her three-year-old child in her arms. __The little girl had a very runny nose_. _The sight of this was making Ryan uneasy as the woman stood talking to him just inches in front of him. It would have been rude for Ryan to step backwards to put space between the woman and himself. Ryan was always polite and professional, Eric had seen that._

_Eric was standing a few feet behind the three. Seeing the girl, who was very cute, with her running nose Eric hid a smile. A few seconds the moment Eric had been waiting happened. The little girl named Abby sneezed, snot getting all over Ryan._

_A horrified Ryan had to hide it while the woman apologized and till she left. Eric __**had**__ to see the end of this. He followed his co-worker as Ryan practically sprinted to the locker room._

_"Shut-up, Delko," Ryan said seeing Eric come into the room close behind him, laughing so hard he shook. "This is __**not**__ funny!"_

_"No," Eric gasped between fits of laughter. "It's hilarious! You should see your face! You wouldn't know if the kid covered you with something radioactive!"_

_Even Tripp got in on the fun, being near the door when Ryan went in removing his blazer and shirt at a near frantic speed. _

_"Ya know Wolfe," Frank said. "They've done studies on this; that stuff washes right out and is non-toxic."_

_"Thank you, Frank," Ryan said with a sarcastic glare. "I didn't know that."_

_"I don't think he believes you, Frank," Eric told the detective with a grin. "You'd better have Horatio call hazmat just to be sure."_

_"I'm on it," Frank said, turning toward the door._

_"Go to hell, both of you!"_

"It was _beautiful!_" Eric told his wife after work.

"You're so _juvenile!_" His wife replied, but she was smiling. Secretly she wished she had to see this.


	29. Sweet Image

_**Sweet Image**_

Six-month-old Nevaeh Hope Delko grinned hearing the front door open and close. She had been sitting on the carpet, babbling away and playing with her toys. Her mom was on the phone but had just told her "daddy's home." The baby girl couldn't crawl yet but when she wanted to get somewhere she had a way. She would scoot across the carpet in her belly her little legs moving her along.

Arriving home at 5:45 Eric smiled at the sight; his little girl coming towards him; a big grin on her face, her two bottom teeth showing and drool running down her grin.

"Adelantado, princesa. Venido al papi," he said sweetly to the child.

Eric picked up Nevaeh when she reached the end of the carpet. He kissed her face, the drool getting on his face making him smile even bigger.

"You're going to be crawling in no time!" He said to her.

His daughter was a happy baby. She loved nearly everyone she met. Even Ryan Wolfe. His experience with being covered in snot seemed to make feel more at ease with babies.

_Earlier that day Calleigh and Nevaeh had come into the lab to have lunch with daddy. Or so that Calleigh could eat with Eric. Nevaeh had already ate her lunch at noon at home. Her usual time. Eric's break wasn't till 1:00pm. Her parents gave each other surprised glances when Nevaeh let out a happy squeal when she saw her parents' co-worker. Ryan smiled at the girl and put his hands out to her. Nevaeh excitedly tried to climb out of her father's lap._

_"Come with me? Take a look around and see who we can see?" Ryan asked, bending down to her eye level. _

_Nevaeh reached out and grabbed the cuff of Ryan's blazer. Ryan smiled, lifting the baby into his arms. _

_"I wasn't expecting __that__," Eric said to his wife, though he was happy that he and Calleigh could have a few moments to themselves, even if it was in the break room at work. _

_"Maybe since being covered in snot didn't kill him he realized kids weren't anything to be afraid of," his wife replied with a smile._

_**Translations**_

Adelantado, princesa. Venido al papi_- Come here, princess. Come to Daddy._


	30. Surprise!

_**Surprise!**_

Calleigh beamed. She couldn't be more proud seeing her daughter crawl to the other end of the carpet to get a blue stacking ring. The mother was so happy she scooped up the child, kissing her cheek. Nevaeh put a sour expression on her face; she wasn't pleased to be interrupted in her mission to retrieve part of her favorite toy.

"Mommy's so proud of you!" Calleigh said.

Nevaeh looked over her mother's arm to the floor, at the object she had been handed for. Her mom smiled.

"All right," her mom said with a smile. "I'll put you down. You're busy."

A baby crawling for the first time may certainly be a big deal for mommy and daddy but not a little girl who had been making her way to her favorite toy when her mom excitedly noticed her new skill.

Calleigh didn't say anything to her husband about their daughter's newfound skill. Rather she hid her excitement and let him find out on his own. She was in the kitchen taking dinner of out of the oven when and from the living room she heard Eric excitedly called out,

"Cal! Cal, _come here!_

"That was _amazing!_ Did you show mommy what you can do?" Calleigh heard her husband say to Nevaeh.

"She did," Calleigh said, coming into the room. "But I picked her up when she was busy going for what she's got in her hand. She wasn't happy with me."

Nevaeh was holding the blue plastic ringer in both hands and was mouthing it. Ever since her husband had gone back to work when Eric got home her little daughter _totally_ ignored her and wanted daddy for everything. Calleigh didn't mind. Besides getting a break she thoroughly enjoyed watching how father and daughter interacted. Plus after seven Eric was all hers. Did daddy Eric mind looking after his baby after working al day? Hell, no! Time with Nevaeh was the ultimate relaxation for him.

Eric smiled when Calleigh made one attempt to feed Nevaeh her sweet potato. Nevaeh closed her lips tightly.

"Do you want daddy to feed you?" Calleigh smiled. "You do, don't you?"

Neveah replied with a grin. Eric's mischievous grin.

Having had his back to his family for a moment Eric turned around and chuckled. He took over Calleigh's seat in front of Nevaeh's high chair. The child ate eagerly for her dad. Calleigh took advantage when Eric told her she could take a break. She was going to go take long bubble bath.

"See you later," she said, toying with Eric's ear and kissing his head. "Remember, you made a pleasure appointment for 7:30."

"Ohh," her husband replied. "I'll be there with nothing on."

A six-month-old is too young to understand sex talk.

"Mommy gone?" Eric said to the baby once Calleigh was in the bathroom and the water was running.

Eric decided to give Nevaeh a treat. Chocolate pudding. He wasn't going to give her all of it, just a taste, considering her new milestone.

The "wow" expression that crossed Nevaeh's face when the taste of chocolate was on the tip of her tongue made Eric laugh.

"Good, huh?" He said. He gave her three more spoonfuls before putting the pudding on the counter.

Eric cleaned off her face with a wet paper towel and took off her bib. Chocolate had got the baby's shirt anyway. "Daddy's going to have to change your clothes and hide the evidence from mommy," he said lifting the baby out of the high chair. He carried her to the nursery and took a sleeper out of the drawer. "Arms up. Daddy peels you like a potato," Eric said to Nevaeh, seating her down on the change table.

Nevaeh put her arms up so that Eric could remove her t-shirt. She smiled.

"That's my girl," Eric said after he pulled the shirt over her head. He laid the baby down on her back removing her socks and jeans then unsnapping her undershirt and removing it and changing her diaper.

Fastening the last button on the clean sleeper the baby now wore Eric washed both their hands with wet wipes and picked up his daughter so he could take her into the living room.

"Wanna play with some toys?" Eric said, setting Nevaeh down on the living room carpet and getting down next to her. He pulled Nevaeh's _Leapfrog Learn & Groove Activity Table_ closer to her, smiling as she started moving to the music that played when she hit one of the buttons.

Even through Alexx had told the two they should start putting their baby down in the crib and let her put herself to sleep at night now that she were six months old the first time parents couldn't bring themselves to do that yet. Hearing Nevaeh cry when either put her down and left the room was too much. But it never took long for Nevaeh to fall asleep when she was in the rocker with either of her parents.

Calleigh was sitting on the sofa wearing a pair of navy blue silk pajamas, her legs folded up, a fleece blanket wrapped around part of her body when her husband came back to the living room.

"Hey," she said. "That didn't take long."

"Naw," Eric said, sitting down next to her. "I think she was tuckered out from all the moving she did today."

Calleigh put her feet down and leaned into her husband before putting her feet back up. He put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her deeply.

"I was so excited to see her crawl today," she smiled, "but she didn't see the big deal."

"She looked at me funny when I got excited, too," Eric replied.

"By the way, does daddy's girl have your sweet tooth? I saw the puddling cup on the counter. I know it wasn't you 'cause you'd never leave it three quarters full."

"Guilty," Eric grinned. "She liked it. You should have seen her eyes light up when she tasted it.

"Now," he said pulling his wife down to his lap and kissing her hard. "I seem to recall something about a pleasure appointment."

"You're right," Calleigh said, starting to get off of the couch. "But I forget to tell ya, that's only if you can catch me!" She said running toward their bedroom.

"Oh, you asked for it!" Eric said bolting after her.


	31. Rules

_**Rules. Not just for children anymore!**_

The couple was quite surprised not to mention glad that the noise they had made the night before, the chasing, the playful "I got you! Haha!" and squeals "oh no you don't!" not to mention th noise the bed made when Eric pinned his wife to the mattress and her attempts to get away, hadn't awaken their sleeping daughter. But Nevaeh slept till 11:00 when she woke up for a bottle.

Mommy and daddy had had their fun by then. Calleigh went in the room and picked her daughter up.

"Hi ya sweetheart," she said to the baby softly. "Are you thirsty?"

Nevaeh's small hands fingered the black silk of the robe her mom wore. She loved the feel of the material. Her mother smiled, watching the child's hands. Nevaeh had enjoyed the feel of the material on her fingertips since Calleigh could remember.

The baby girl could almost her bottle without help now. The person feeding her barely had to hold the bottom of the bottle. Nevaeh was babbling constantly now, though it wasn't exactly the words "ma-ma" and "da-da" she had those syllables and some others down-pat. Her godfather teased the two that their daughter's first real word would be not "mama" or "dada" but 'Horatio.' Whenever Ryan saw her now he tried to get her to say his name, once in her babbling he swore to her parents that Nevaeh said "Ry."

"Yep. Her first word is gonna be 'Ryan,'" the CSI said with a grin to her parents. "Too bad I probably won't be there to hear it."

"If I come in one morning and say 'Wolfe! Gun range, now!' You'll know you were right," Eric replied. But _If _his child's first word happened to be 'Horatio,' well, Eric would have to come up with another plan. He couldn't order his boss to meet him on the firing range so he could shot him.

Calleigh gasped at the object her baby was mouthing. A pair of silver metal handcuffs. She knew where they came from; they belonged to her. They were a 'toy' she and her husband used. Calleigh then remembered they had used them night before. She then vaguely remembered they had been kicked under the foot of their bed when Eric was rushing that morning because he had slept through the alarm. Thank goodness the keys were on the night stand, a baby could have choked on those.

"How did you get to mommy and daddy's room and back so quick? Mommy didn't even hear you!" She said, picking the girl, she had turned her back for less than two minutes. There was the only way the child could have got a hold of the object and she usually heard the baby when she crawled on the hard wood floor in the hall. "Oh no. you can't have those, little girl," she said taking the cuffs away from her.

Nevaeh whined and reached for the item her mom took away. She liked it. It was hard and cold so it felt good on her teething gums. Plus it was shiny, shiny stuff was pretty. Calleigh put the "toy" in the drawer, giving Nevaeh a rattle to distract her tears. She was blushing slightly in embarrassment that her daughter had found such a private item. Then again she also thought she was glad Nevaeh wasn't old enough to talk because the child would have asked "mommy why do have these in your room?"

Eric called at the same time.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

Half-laughing Calleigh told her husband what their child had found and how she wasn't happy to have the item taken away.

Eric laughed.

"I guess 'pick up your toys' doesn't just apply to children," he said.


	32. Needles

_**Needles**_

He could take multiple dead bodies in the same room, the smell of decomposition, even body parts not connected to the torso they were to be. But Eric Delko couldn't take the sight of his daughter, the apple of his eye, getting needles. Hearing her wailing during the injections and continued crying afterwards broke his heart. One wouldn't have to know a lot about babies to be able to tell the cries were ones of "I'm in pain." You could tell by the sound. The doctor had warned them that the baby could have pain in her legs where the needles were given. She told Calleigh that giving the baby some infant Tylenol a half hour before they arrived at the doctor's office mind help the baby's discomfort and the mild fever she might develop afterwards.

The medication might have helped with any fever but not with Nevaeh's pain. She cried continuously for three hours. The day prior Eric had mentioned to Horatio that he was going to be in late because he wanted to go with Calleigh when she took the baby to the family doctor for her shots. Horatio told him that was fine. Eric didn't mean to demean his wife's parenting skill, and Calleigh never took it that way, but considering the reactions Nevaeh had to the immunization**s** he didn't want his wife to have to cope alone. Plus being a daddy's girl, having daddy around for cuddles might help, even just a little bit.

Before Eric even spoke when Horatio answered his phone he heard his godchild's cries in the background.

_Poor baby_, he thought.

"H?" Eric said.

"Eric. Sounds like someone needs mommy _and_ daddy home today," Horatio said. "Take the day. We'll only call if we really need you."

After three hours Nevaeh had cried herself out and was exhausted and very thirsty. Her eyes were heavy while she drank from her bottle. Holding it herself was out right now, her daddy held it for her. Nevaeh's eyes started to close as she drank the last bit of formula from the bottle. Calleigh had given the baby another low dose of Tylenol before she was fed. The baby fell asleep almost immediately after she spat out the rubber nipple. The three hours had been an ordeal for all three, the couple didn't care about their own exhaustion. It had just been so hard to listen to the baby cry like that and not be able to do anything about it.

Since they had bought her home from the hospital Nevaeh's parents had made sure she had slept in her bassinet or crib. She never slept in their bed; till that evening. Nevaeh slept pretty soundly nestled in between her parents, only occasionally whimpering in her sleep from some of the lingering discomfort.

He couldn't resist. At six-thirty Horatio had to call and check on his godchild. Nevaeh had awaken from her long snooze. She was in a slightly better mood but not her smiley self. She wasn't in any mood to play; she just wanted to cuddle. And sometimes cuddles are an uncle's specialty. When Nevaeh went his arms so easily and hugged into his shoulder Horatio told her parents that they should go out for some fresh air and go for a bite at the café just two minutes from their home.

"You sure, Horatio?" Calleigh asked.

"Sure," the older man said. "She's happy enough. I know how to take care of her and where all the important stuff is."

"I guess that was our first grueling experience as parents," Eric said to his wife at the empty café. They were surprised to find they were the only customers there.

"Yeah," Calleigh said with a sigh. "It was tough, wasn't it? But I guess if we think this is bad now in a few years we'll look back at this and call it an easy one."

The two were glad to get out for a short while. And maybe, just maybe, Horatio would have the magic touch and could make their baby smile again.


	33. Morning

_**Morning **_

Though she hadn't done much smiling Nevaeh seemed to enjoy being with Horatio. Her parents thought perhaps the man's calm energy might have had a soothing effect on the girl. Horatio told them the baby seemed hungry after they left and Nevaeh had eaten almost a whole jar of baby food and part of another bottle of formula before falling asleep in his arms where she was now. Considering the fact that Nevaeh had last eaten was before she went to the doctor's office and the only thing she had after that was a bottle of milk neither parent was surprised or at the fact that Horatio had made the baby calm enough to eat.

However, Nevaeh woke up when her uncle passed her over to her mom. She reached out for her uncle. Horatio figured he was the favorite comforter right now because he hadn't been there when she got her shots; mommy and daddy were.

"You'll be all right, sweetie," Horatio said, kissing the baby's brow. "I'll come back and see you."

By the next morning Nevaeh was smiling again. She had fallen asleep shortly after Horatio left and slept till six. Calleigh smiled hearing cooing on the baby monitor. Eric heard it too.

"Sounds like we have a happy girl again," her husband said.

Eric got up and went to his daughter's nursery. She was sitting up, smiling. She put her arms up when she saw her daddy.

"Good morning. Someone looks like they slept well," Eric said, picking her up. He changed the baby's diaper and carried her to the bedroom he shared with his wife. They didn't have to get up for an hour and all three liked to snuggle for a bit before they started the day.

"Someone's a happy girl this morning," Calleigh said, reaching up, taking her daughter in her arms and laying her between them. Nevaeh gurgled, enjoying the feeling of being between her parents.

"I'm glad she likes us again," Eric chuckled. "I thought she was going to pack her bags and move in with H last night."

Horatio teased his younger co-worker when he arrived at the lab that morning.

"So, Eric, When my roommate moving in?" He said with a smile.

"Afraid she's not, H," Eric replied. "She decided she likes us again. But she was debating leaving; took some convincing and a little bribing though."

Horatio sighed.

"And here I was all excited."

"Hey. Cheer up. We're bound to make her mad again. When's she's two or three you might get a call from her saying she wants to ran away to your house."

Horatio laughed.

"Well. I'm glad she's happy again. Broke my heart hearing her cry like that."


	34. Dad 2

_**Dad #2**_

_Marisol is in this story but she was never ill with cancer._

Natasha Delko-Martinez was married but she and her husband Lance had three-year-old twins, Gracie and Joseph. The children had been in foster care since birth and had placed with them at a month old. The couple had formally adopted the twins when they were eight months old.

Landon had been placed for adoption at birth. He had found his birth parents at age 21. Though neither had agreed to meet him, his biological father shared with Lance that he had MS and that the disorder ran in the family.

Lance had been fortunate; genetic testing he had gone through after finding this out revealed that the gene had skipped him. However, it was very likely any children he fathered could inherit the incurable disease. Lance underwent a vasectomy shortly after. The couple knew they could still have a wonderful family through adoption. They knew that if anything happened to Nevaeh's parents while the child was still a minor that Horatio Caine would be adopting and raising her.

Although she were attached to her grandparents and other extended family, the head of the crime lab was practically a second dad to the child. Although the two had been upset at first Chlorinda and Pavel had accepted that they wouldn't be the ones raising their grandchild in event something was to happen to both their son and daughter-in-law. The nearly eight-month-old girl squealed with excitement at the sight of Horatio. Natasha's brother had told her that his daughter liked three of his co-workers, Alexx, Frank and Ryan almost as much. Frank was teaching Nevaeh to high-five. Ryan was trying to teach the eight-month-old girl to give the thumbs-up sign. Frank was having more luck. Alexx tried to explain to Ryan that Nevaeh's fine motor skills weren't developed enough for that hand gesture yet. But since she could wave, learning high-five would be very easy for her.

"But she's trying," Alexx told the CSI with a smile. "The thumb part is just hard for her but I see her raising her little fist to you when she sees ya."

Natasha had never seen such a smiley baby as her niece. There were only two people in the city of Miami that the little girl didn't smile at and reach for; Rick Stetler, the head of internal affairs at the crime lab and Natasha, Rachel and Eric's sister Marisol. Rick Stetler was a real prick and outside of herself no one was sure who Marisol cared about.

_Marisol had told their mother once just before Calleigh's due date, when Eric was in such an excited state that he said he couldn't see straight, that he should be "dreading" the day his child was born. She whined that ever since Eric had been shot everyone fussed over him and they were fussing over the impending arrival of his "offspring." _

_It was just another baby, she told her mother. A noisy, smelly, snot-nosed baby that kept people up at night. So what if it was Eric's?_

_ Chlorinda had never come so close to slapping one of her children as she did that day._

_"Don't you __dare__ say anything like that about your brother! This is the happiest time in life and he deserves it after all he's been through. He almost never got to see this day and you're bitching that it's not about you. The world doesn't revolve around you, Marisol! When are you going to get that?"_

_Marisol had seemed upset when she and the rest of family were not sure if Eric was going to live or die but after he survived and recovered she thought "he's alive. Get over what happened and get back to making me the center of attention."_

Even now Marisol would give a dirty look to her baby niece if she were there when she came to visit her parents. She didn't understand how her parents looked on the child who was crawling on the floor and with drool on her chin, so affectionately. Marisol often shook her head seeing how absorbed Eric was when he was with his daughter. He was a different guy since he woke up in that hospital. Being a husband to Calleigh and father to Nevaeh was everything to him. Anything else was second.

Marisol lacked the maturity to understand how much joy Calleigh and Nevaeh gave her brother. Eric had long given up trying to explain it to her. It took a near-death experience to make admit what he really wanted from life and cause him to be a changed man. He didn't know what it was going to take to make Marisol change.


	35. Baby's First: Sleepover

_**First Sleep Over**_

Calleigh was marking in an appointment date on the calendar when she noticed something. Seven more days and Nevaeh would be 11 months old. It was hard to believe that soon her baby would be a year old. She was dreading going back to work so much now; she was able to secure part-time hours. She was going back to work two weeks after the baby's first birthday. Still she knew it wasn't going to be so easy those first few days. It make things more comfortable for her daughter and ease any separation anxiety Nevaeh might have and fact that neither her in-laws and sister-in-law was child-proof, especially for a little girl to starting to learn to stand, the two women were coming to the Delko home. They had suggested that because they thought it was also more practical to have all of Nevaeh's things right there.

Nevaeh was spending her first night away from mommy and daddy tonight. She was staying over at Horatio's. There was no short of toys for the baby girl at her godfather's house. There was a crib set up in Horatio's living room. Her parents highly doubted she would spend much time there. Horatio would put her in his bed with him the first time she cried, or if she didn't want to be there when he tried to put her down.

"He's such a softie with her," Calleigh said, packing her daughter's bag with extra diapers, wipes and clothes. Horatio had already purchased bottles, baby formula and other baby food and snacks having asked what brand of things Nevaeh ate. "I don't know who's worse for that, him or you." Calleigh smiled as Eric held their smiling baby.

Eric smiled.

"Hey! I'm starting to say 'no' on a rare occasion. That word hasn't entered H's vocabulary with her, yet."

The couple didn't know who was looking forward to this night more. The baby or Horatio. They smiled when the baby squealed and reached for Horatio when she saw him.

Horatio smiled and put his hands out. "C'mon," he said.

"You should have everything she needs," Calleigh told him. "I put in extra clothes and diapers."

"Okay. Has she eaten yet?"

"No. She'll want her dinner by the time you get home."

"All right. Say goodbye to mommy and daddy. Give 'em kisses," Horatio said as the parents kissed their baby goodbye.

Sure to what her mom had said Nevaeh began to whine when they were near Horatio's house. She was hungry.

"I know, baby," Horatio said, looking at Nevaeh in the rearview mirror. "You're hungry. We'll be there in a few minutes and I'll get you your dinner."

Nevaeh quieted some then.

Nevaeh ate mashed potatoes and two spoonfuls of peas before she took a bottle of formula. The baby smiled at her godfather through the nipple in her mouth watching him remove the tray on the high chair and undo the safety strap.

"Coming up?" He asked her.

Horatio hugged the child to him and kissed her face when he picked her up. Nevaeh may not have been his child but he was happiest when he was with her.

_The baby's parents had yet to take a honeymoon. Everyone was after them to do so. The couple knew he had to adore their daughter to say "I'll take a week off and look after her."_

_Horatio Caine's job was his life; he never voluntarily took time off. _

_"I take the offer if I were you," Alexx told the two repeatedly. "I know you adore the time with your baby girl but you guys really should take a few days away for yourselves. I'm sure Nevaeh wouldn't care that you were gone."_

_"I know," Eric had smiled. "But we're afraid she'll wouldn't want to come back afterwards."_

_Alexx laughed. "Well, I can't say I wouldn't worry about that, either."_

"When am I going to be able get your mommy and daddy to go away for a few days, huh?" Horatio said to the smiling baby, laying her down on the sofa to change her diaper. "Then I can have you all to myself. You wouldn't mind that, would you? We'd have fun," he said, doing the 'itsy bitsy spider' up Nevaeh's belly.

She laughed.

Eric and Calleigh were chatting and seriously considering taking a few days away for a honeymoon. It would be good for them to have short break before Calleigh returned to work. Alexx had given them a few brochures from a few very nice couples' resorts in Key West.

"And I think Nevaeh would love it if Horatio were here for a few days," Calleigh said.

"Yeah. He'd _love_ playing daddy for a few days; I think he might even pay for our trip," Eric laughed.


	36. No Idea

_**No Idea What You're Talking About**_

Nevaeh sat in her godfather's lap with her pacifier in her mouth, she only ever wanted it when she was getting ready for bed and when she slept. Though she was sleepy and rubbing her brown eyes she seemed to listen intently to Horatio's voice read _The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and The Big Hungry Bear_ by Don Wood.

"I think someone is sleepy," Horatio said, kissing Nevaeh's head, closing the book at the end of the story.

True to what her parents had thought, Nevaeh wasn't going to sleep the night in a room alone. Horatio had set up a bed for himself on the sofa next to the crib. Nevaeh might sleep in the crib if she saw Horatio was just feet away. If not, taking her into his bed with him wasn't a problem. In fact he _almost_ hoped for it. The eleven-month-old fell asleep after only a few moments cradled in Horatio's arms. He kissed Nevaeh's cheek before laying her down in the crib putting her favorite 'sleeping buddy,' her gloworm next to her. He ignored what Eric and Calleigh had told about putting Nevaeh to bed; when she's really tired just put her down. She might fuss a bit but she would fall asleep very quickly. The same went for if she woke up during the night; don't go to her right away, she might just go back to sleep. The parents had only learned to do this and stomach any crying a few weeks prior, finally realizing their daughter needed to learn to start put herself to sleep alone. When they had told Horatio to do this he scoffed.

"Listen," he said. "When I have her, I'll do it my way. Uncles have different rules."

Eric called a short time later to check on his daughter.

"Your baby?" Horatio said with a smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I just put _my_ baby down for the night."

A few days ago and once again tonight Nevaeh had called Horatio "dada." Eric wasn't offended, his daughter had also said that to his own father a few times. At this age she certainly knew what man in her life was daddy, if someone were to point to Horatio or anyone else other than Eric and ask "is he your daddy?" Nevaeh would shake her head fiercely. Horatio never referred to himself as "dada" and never encouraged her to call him that. Nevaeh most likely got "dada" for his father because Pavel was called "dedushka" Russian for grandpa. Chlorinda was "abuela" Spanish for grandma. The couple often spoke to their grandchild in their respective native languages as well as English.

Eric laughed.

"And let me guess, you're lonely already?"

Horatio just laughed in reply.

Both knew it wasn't the last time uncle Horatio would see Nevaeh tonight. She would be awake again around 10:30 for a bottle.

Horatio picked the baby girl quickly when she woke and started to fuss. As often as she were at his home she was used to her room and her crib and she didn't recognize where she was when first woke up from sleep.

"Hi there, sweet cheeks," Horatio said. Nevaeh's tears stopped even before they started. "There. You're all right. You just didn't know where you were, did you?"

The baby smiled.

"Daddy said not to pick you up so fast," Horatio said, giving her an Eskimo kiss as he walked to the kitchen for her bottle. "But you know I don't listen to him or mommy. When you're over here, you're mine."

Another no-no from mommy and daddy; Horatio read Nevaeh another story when she didn't go back to sleep straight away. And when she only slept for a few minutes before waking up and putting her arms up to him he didn't hesitate to carry her to his room and tuck her into bed with him.

"How many of the rules you think Horatio's over there breakin'?" Calleigh asked, hugging into her husband's shoulder while they watched tv.

"Every one of 'em," Eric smiled. "He scoffed at me when I told him about if she wakes up. She's probably asleep in his bed with him now. And I bet he probably even gave her a cookie to go with her bottle at ten."

Wrong. It was a cupcake that Horatio gave Nevaeh, frosting and all, shortly before bed.

Calleigh laughed. "His 'uncles have different rules' means no rules."

Uncle H was only too happy to hear that one of Eric's college pals and his wife had called and were in town. The couple wanted to take Calleigh and Eric out for the day. Horatio was glad to spend more time with Nevaeh on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

"We'll swing by and drop off her stroller in case you guys wanna go out. And oh, Calleigh said you should be good on clothes but you might need to stop for diapers. I called mom and dad they said to drop Nevaeh over there if you get called in."

"No problem."

"We might not be home till tonight. Is that okay?"

"_Come on_, Eric! Think about that question."

Eric laughed.

"Sorry. My bad."

Horatio thought it was a great idea to walk to the nearby grocery store when Eric dropped off the stroller. He also bought over some children's sunblock. Nevaeh smiled when she saw her daddy but made no move to go to Eric. Her little hands clinging the fabric of Horatio's white t-shirt.

"I think I've been dethroned," the Cuban chuckled.

"I think we have everything we need," Horatio said, adjusting the safety strap on the stroller. "Sunblock on baby, your sippy cup and animal crackers. You don't want your sandals on but I'll put them back here, just in case. And we can't forget your sunnies," he said, placing a pair of baby sunglasses on Nevaeh's face, they were black like his.

Nevaeh grinned at her godfather and kicked her denim capri-clad legs. Horatio smiled at her and kissed the tip of her nose. She touched his hair and ears reaching out for a hug in reply. Horatio smiled and hugged the little girl, he knew she loved hugs. he was only too happy to give her plenty.

Walking down the street and then all through the grocery store Horatio only noticed half of the smiles he was getting from women he passed. And then he thought they were smiling at the baby. They were. But they were also smiling at who they thought was the baby's daddy. On the way back home, a pack of diapers in the rack underneath the stroller uncle Horatio decided to stop at the local coffee shop. He brought Nevaeh a small bowl of chocolate-swirl soft serve ice cream. Nevaeh loved every scoop of it. Children getting messy was the law and Horatio purposely didn't wipe Nevaeh's hands or face till she was done with the ice cream. Chocolate ice cream stains on a child's clothes weren't toxic, either. Horatio thought that Calleigh and Eric were lucky that they weren't the kind of people that were neurotic about mess with their baby, because he would have quickly snapped them out of that. Being like that with children Nevaeh's age who were just learning about new food textures and how to feed themselves, which meant being able to be messy often caused other problems with feeding and other areas. And Horatio was not about to let this happen to his goddaughter. A care-free, happy child was comfortable with being messy and Horatio was going to make sure Nevaeh grew up a happy child.


	37. Visitors

_**Visitors**_

_I'm sure no one knows the exact thought process of an 11-month-old so I'm only guessing! _

Eric and Calleigh arrived back at Horatio's at five thirty, having thoroughly enjoyed their "mini-vacation." They smiled at the image in the front window. Nevaeh toddling around in just her white cotton onesie with a smile on her face, a pile of toys on the floor, all toys that were in a toy box at Horatio's home. She was walking towards her godfather. The only toy she ever had to bring back and forth was her "sleeping buddy," her gloworm. Their daughter was starting to walk now. She could take a few wobbly steps on her own before falling. Her parents and godfather didn't make a big deal of it. It was a part of the learning process. Though she had had her bumps and bruises, Nevaeh rarely cried when she fell and when she did, it was more out of fright than being hurt.

Again, Nevaeh practically ignored her parents. Horatio was sitting on the floor with her. She smiled at them from where she stood, her two chubby hands on Horatio's face.

"Look," he said to her. "Mommy and daddy are here for a visit."

"And why do I get the feeling somebody would be happy with just a visit?" Calleigh laughed.

Nevaeh walked over to her parents after they were sitting on the couch a few minutes.

"Momma," she said to Calleigh, wanting to be picked up.

Calleigh picked Nevaeh up, hugging her and kissing her head.

"So you _did_ miss me, after all," she said, enjoying the feeling of her daughter hugging into her. "Daddy get you dressed and we go home?"

Nevaeh seemed to understand the words "go home" and fiercely shook her head and then tried to get out her mother's lap. Eric intervened and scooped their daughter up.

"Where do you think you're going, nina?" Eric said, placing a loud kiss on her cheek. Seemingly Nevaeh didn't want to get dressed if that meant leaving Horatio's.

"How 'bout I get you dressed?" Horatio asked her, bending down in front of her.

Nevaeh let her godfather dress her, thinking maybe now she wouldn't going anywhere. The baby girl cried when she and her parents were leaving. She reached for Horatio from Eric's arms. All the three could do was laugh. It was impossible for the parents to be offended.

It didn't take a whole lot for Nevaeh to be happy again once she was in the car with her parents. She was even more excited to see her mom and dad had brought her a present, a brown teddy bear that wore a pair of blue jeans, white sneakers, and a pair of black squeezed the bear and gave it kiss. Eric smiled seeing her hug the toy to her when she went to bed.

"I think Mr. Gloworm has been replaced," Calleigh said.

_nina - Spanish for 'little girl' __**Let me know if I'm correct!**_


	38. Back to Work

_**Back to Work**_

Calleigh couldn't believe she was doing this. It was only 8:00am and it was third time she had broken down in tears. She was going to back to work today. She couldn't believe that she was crying like this and she was only going to be at work for three hours.

"I'm sorry," she sniffled while Eric hugged her again. "This is so _stupid_. Why am I bawling like this? I've been away from her for more than three hours before."

"Don't apologize, mi amor," he said, kissing her brow. "This is different. This is the start of a whole new routine. But you'll be fine. We'll all be. "

Calleigh was quite careful not to let her baby see her tears. She and Eric were in their bedroom. Eric's mother had arrived and was playing with Nevaeh in the living room. As she was nearly every morning the baby girl was happy. Mommy wanted to keep it that way. Nevaeh had a good time with her abuela and if the girl _did_ cry, Chlorinda was able to soothe her easily. Thank god for that. Calleigh thought if her baby started crying when she were going out of the door _she'd_ start bawling all over again. Luckily, Nevaeh just smiled at her, threw her a kiss and waved This made Calleigh happy. She kissed her child's face and left with her husband.

Though she rightfully had her mind on what she was doing in the ballistics lab Calleigh was indeed looking forward to 11:30 when she got back home to her baby.

Nevaeh was getting ready to eat her lunch of macaroni and cheese when her mom got home. She had mastered feeding herself finger food with her hands and now was fast catching on to feeding herself with a spoon.

"See?" Chlorinda said to the girl. "Abuela said mami would be home to have lunch with you."

When she knew mommy was home Nevaeh wouldn't eat till mommy came back downstairs from locking away her gun and badge and changing out of her work clothes.

"Did you miss mommy?" Calleigh asked her daughter sitting down at the table with her.

Mother and baby were playing on the floor when daddy called after lunch. He had just returned from a call-out.

"I didn't get a chance to see you at the lab," he said. "How'd your morning go?"

"Good. Went faster than I thought."

"I bet you're glad to be home though," Eric said, smiling on the other end of the phone.

"You bet," his wife smiled.

_"You gave her __pizza__?" Ryan said, a bit surprised when Eric showed pictures of a grinning Nevaeh on his phone, taken the night before, tomato sauce and crumbs all over her face. The family had ordered pizza for dinner the previous night._

_"Sure!" Eric said. "She's got most of her teeth and it was only cheese and pepperoni. She loves it!"_

_Though it was just the second time she had been given it, pizza was now their child's new favorite food. Chlorinda thought Nevaeh was too young for the dish but she didn't say anything. It wasn't her place because the girl wasn't hers. The grandmother didn't want to critique every small thing her son and daughter-in-law did differently than she would._

Nevaeh had had no time for grandma once mommy was home.

"Mommy loves you, too," Calleigh smiled as her daughter wrapped her little arms around her neck and planted a pile of wet kisses on her face, leaving drool on her skin. "She can't imagine her life without you and daddy."


	39. My Girl

_**My Girl**_

Horatio agreed to do the lunch run to the local café when everyone else was either busy in the lab or out in the field. To his joy he was crossing the street to the premises and he saw Chlorinda taking her one-year-old granddaughter out for a walk in her stroller Nevaeh saw her godfather before her grandmother noticed him.

She let out a loud shriek of happiness. Her hands reaching out and her feet kicking.

"What is it, sweetheart?" Chlorinda asked her granddaughter.

"There she is. How's my girl?"

Nevaeh could bring the biggest smile to the lieutenant's face no matter how his day was going. Chlorinda looked to the direction of the familiar voice.

She smiled. "I should have known," she said. "Hi Horatio. How are you?"

"I'm good, ma'am. How are you?" Horatio bent down to Nevaeh. He leaned in and kissed her face. Nevaeh reached out and touched his face. "Hello, my angel," he murmured.

Horatio couldn't resist when Nevaeh wanted to be picked up, even if he only had a moment. A hug from her always made his day. "I'll come by and see you later, all right, pumpkin? I love you." Horatio said to Nevaeh when strapped back into her stroller. He smiled when she threw him a kiss in reply before he walked away.

Chlorinda smiled to herself as the two walked pass the cafe. Every time she saw Horatio with her granddaughter she knew the girl's parents picked the perfect guardian for her. Just the way the two looked at each other would warm anyone's heart. Chlorinda got a glance at how dedicated Horatio would be as a parent to Nevaeh months ago. She didn't recall who had asked Horatio but in event the worst happened and he had had the "task," which Horatio corrected with "responsibility and the joy," of raising Nevaeh, with his job hours and being a single parent, what would he do? Hire a live-in nanny, perhaps?

Horatio replied with an emphatic "no." He'd seek early retirement or quit the department and get the a job in the private sector so he could spend the "maximum amount of time" with the child. The lieutenant thought the same as Eric about "hired help" raising children. It was selfish.

Certainly someone had to support the family but to work more hours than needed just to have more money, more things and a bigger house, at the expense of missing time and special moments with your child was ridiculous. A child would do better in a smaller home getting to spend more than three hours a day with their parent, than being cared for by a nanny (no matter how good) and barely seeing their parents outside of breakfast, dinner and bedtime. He knew Eric and Calleigh realized that by the fact Calleigh only worked part-time. And if she had not been able to do that, she wasn't returning to work at all. Three hours a day with her aunt Natasha or her grandmother was just a morning of play for Nevaeh.


	40. You Two Should

_**You two should go out more...**_

"Only one thing makes you smile like that, Horatio," Natalia Boa Vista said watching her boss put the lunch bags on the table of the breakroom.

"Yes," Horatio replied. "I did happen to run into my girl. She was out for a walk with grandma."

"And which one of you shed more tears when she couldn't come with you?" Eric asked as he and Calleigh walked through the door.

"Very funny," Horatio said. "We both managed not to cry this time. But she wants to knew when I'm babysitting again."

"There you go, a babysitter for ya!" Alexx said. "I invited these two out to go bowling and for dinner with Rick and myself Saturday evening but they said they can't go 'cause they can't get a sitter."

Even though the couple enjoyed their off-time with their baby daughter Calleigh and Eric knew they had to get out as a couple as well.

"_Yee-ah!_" Horatio said, sounding like five-year-old. "Nobody asked _me!_"

Both parents knew how Horatio enjoyed being with his goddaughter but they hadn't wanted to impose babysitting duty on the man every time they wanted to go out. Neveah was the one joy in Horatio's life and any time he could spend with her he would jump at. If he wasn't at the lab, he would _gladly_ take babysitting duty _every_ time.

Eric smiled when his mother told him that Nevaeh was asking for him, saying "dada" all day. He kissed the girl in his arms. Calleigh had switched to working in the afternoons for a month and today been invited to a "girls only" barbeque at Private Detective Yelina Salas's house after work. Eric was definitely looking forward to some daddy-daughter time.

"She had a ton of fun in the sand today," Chlorinda said, squeezing her granddaughter foot. "You'll have to tell daddy all about it,"she said kissing the child's nose before she left. If Nevaeh didn't need a bath, she certainly needed one after her dinner, her favorite, leftover cheese pizza cut into small squares. She could now feed herself but still a messy little eater.

After giving her bubble bath daddy Delko enjoyed his child's giggles as he massaged her body with lotion. The two had been doing baby massage on Nevaeh since she was born. Along with making her happy, often causing her to giggle this is also seemed to relax her. She would start yawning moments after. Finishing dressing his daughter in a mint green pajama set that Alexx had bought for her Eric picked her up. Nevaeh put her hands on his cheeks and gave him a wet kiss.

"Aww. I love you, too, princesa. Come cuddle with daddy and watch cartoons for a while?" He said to her.

He smiled when Nevaeh nodded eagerly. The little girl had more interest in nuzzling into papi's neck than the _Care Bears_ on tv

Calleigh smiled at her husband and child when she saw them on the couch upon arriving home. It was an adorable sight. Eric was half-asleep, Nevaeh was sitting on his stomach. Every time he'd start to snore softly their daughter would press his nose, laughing when he opened his eyes.

"No sleep for papi on your watch, huh, pretty girl?" Calleigh said to her little girl.

Nevaeh giggled. She reached for her mom.

"C'mere, pretty girl," mommy said, giving her a big hug. "Mami loves you. I missed you, today."

Eric woke up more and sat up on the couch. Calleigh sat next to him with Nevaeh in her lap. She leaned into her husband and they shared a kiss.

"Hey," Eric said. "Did you have fun?"

"I did. Food was good, too. Bought you back some ribs. Oh and Yelina said next time, 'girls only' means this one, too. I think she was disappointed not to see Nevaeh. I said she already had a date planned with daddy."

"I bet if Yelina had planned a lab only barbeque and we couldn't bring her I know who'd opt out right away to babysit.

"You see how H jumped to volunteer and spend some time with her on Saturday night?"

"Yeah. I think you make your uncle Horatio as happy as you make us," Calleigh said, kissing a yawning Nevaeh's head. "I think someone is tired. How 'bout mami tuck you in while papi eats?"

The one-year-old fell asleep fast giving her parents some time together before their own bedtime.


	41. Baby At Work

_**Note to CSI: Miami producers, if his full-time departure is about contracts, **__**get your heads out of your ass and give Adam an appropriate contract so we viewers get "Eric" back full time**__**! My opinion (just to share with other viewers,) I don't think Adam has the what I call the "David Caruso Syndrome" and wants to be a *Movie Star,* or I hope he doesn't. Granted, he has been doing movies lately but it seems to be not only "small" (not-so popular) movies and he seems to have minor roles and has still been in CSI Miami full-time during the filming (unlike a certain co-star who thought he were too good to do both.) The show will suffer without the character of Eric Delko!**_

_**Baby At Work**_

_Sorry it's short! Busy week!_

Nevaeh Delko was sound asleep in her stroller as the elevator stopped and the doors opened. She was coming to work this afternoon with mommy because no else could watch her. The team were going to take turns watching her in the break room for those three hours. Ryan was going to stay with her first but both her parents doubted she would wake up during his "shift." Ryan was nervous that Nevaeh would wake up, start crying and he would not be able to comfort her.

The nervous CSI almost had a heart attack when one of the lab techs came into the room and opened the frig and something dropped on the floor with a loud thud. Ryan flinched, waiting for Nevaeh to start screaming. However the little girl only stirred slightly, rubbed her hand across her face and continued to sleep soundly.

"Wow," Ryan said, stunned.

Nevaeh did wake up twenty minutes before Frank was supposed to come and watch her. By the way she were squirming and fussing Ryan could tell she needed a new diaper. This was his nightmare.

Thankfully not even two minutes later Alexx walked in. She was going to give Ryan a hard time later on but she wasn't going to leave the baby uncomfortable.

"Where's her diaper bag?" She asked Ryan. "C'mon, baby girl. Aunt Alexx will take care of you." She carried the tot to the private staff bathroom to change her. "Uncle Ryan is silly, isn't he?" She said, laying the baby down on the changing pad from the diaper bag to change her. "You're nothing to be afraid of, are ya?"

Nevaeh giggled.

"Where's my baby?" Calleigh said entering the breakroom to get a drink, noticing the empty stroller and just Ryan and Frank there.

"Alexx took her for a diaper change," Ryan replied.

"You couldn't do that? You were left in charge," Calleigh said.

"You're such a wuss, Wolfe!" Frank said. "_I_ could have changed her diaper, Calleigh."

"I know, Frank. God help you if you and Natalia ever have a baby," Calleigh told Ryan. "You'll be in for quite a rough ride."

Ryan and Natalia had been seeing each other since shortly before Nevaeh was born and the whole lab knew. Their feelings for each other were as transparent Calleigh and Eric's had been.

Excluding Ryan, everyone on the team had changed Nevaeh's diapers at one time or another. Horatio had changed probably as many diapers as her parents had. He could almost do it with his eyes closed.


	42. Uses

_**Uses for Gloves & Crayons**_

Eric was really busy and didn't get the chance to see his daughter while she were at the lab till they were leaving. Word got around fast however and he found out how Ryan Wolfe had chickened out on changing Nevaeh's diaper. Ryan pretty much knew Eric would hear about it quickly. Ryan entered the trace lab and put on his lab coat.

"Hey, Wolfe," Eric said.

"Hi," Ryan replied, starting to eye Eric suspiciously. He was waiting for Eric to say something to him.

After twenty minutes the two were going over a substance found at a scene.

"It has lots of uses," Eric said, "like those latex gloves, for instance. You could use these when treating an injured person, handling food for the public...or changing a baby's wet diaper."

Ryan groaned. "You heard, didn't you?"

"Yep."

"Don't be so smug. When'd you start changing diapers? I bet it took you a while."

"On the contrary, _Ryan_," Calleigh said, entering the lab. "The man you're talking to changed his child's first diaper in the _delivery room_ and he has been changing plenty ever since. Number one and twos. And it appears _you_ are even scared of a number one. I'm sure the department wouldn't have minded if you took a pair of gloves. I don't think they count them at the end of the day. "

_"Yeah, Wolfe,"_ Eric said childishly. "See? She agrees with me!"

Horatio was babysitting his goddaughter in his office. She was scribbling on paper with jumbo crayons Horatio bought for her and kept in his desk drawer. Horatio noticed that she seemed to especially like the colors green and purple.

"You're very good at this. I think you're going to be an artist," Horatio said, kissing Nevaeh's soft hair. She smelled so sweet. "It's pretty cool that mommy and daddy made your room purple. They must have known you'd love it."

Nevaeh smiled, scribbling more with the paper. There was a soft knock on Horatio open office door. It was Tim Speedle.

"How did you get the department to give you a secretary?" He joked, smiling at the girl in his boss's lap.

"Oh, I pulled a few strings," his boss replied. "What'd ya have?"

"The results from the Hicks' case. Thought you might want to take a look."

"Sure. You want to go to Speed for a minute, sweetheart?" He said to Nevaeh.

Speed wasn't all that comfortable around children even the daughter of his best friends'. But it wasn't totally of his league. He was somewhat more comfortable with his friends' baby. He had held the girl a few times and felt much more comfortable doing it now that Nevaeh was older. And oh yeah, normally when he spoke to any child he called them "kid." He didn't do this with Nevaeh, ever. Not just because she were the daughter of two of his best friends but in spite of his discomfort with children Tim couldn't deny how adorable Nevaeh Delko was. He called her "squirt," in an affectionate matter.

"Hey there, squirt," he said. "You're getting big pretty fast, huh?"

Nevaeh smiled at Speed before she gave a really big yawn and rubbed her eyes. She tilted her head in towards Speed's chest. Even he couldn't disagree it wasn't a nice feeling.

"Someone's getting tired," Horatio said, glancing up from the paper.

Eric arrived at Horatio's office moments later to get Nevaeh so the three could go home. He saw Nevaeh in Tim's arms.

"Well, I thought I taught her to have better taste," He quipped.


	43. Babysitting

_**Babysitting**_

_A short but funny chapter!_

Even Natalia thought her boyfriend was being a drama-king. A dirty diaper could not have been _that_ bad. Natalia was sick so she couldn't go to the lab and her boyfriend Ryan had worked a triple shift. Because those two were unable to come in when there was a case overload on that Tuesday, Natalia had offered them to babysit Nevaeh while her parents worked from 5:00pm to midnight.

_"Why do we __**both**__ have to go?" Ryan whined._

_"'Cause I promised our friends I'd look after their baby while they work our shifts for us. Besides, you know yourself you like spending time with her," Natalia said. "And she won't up all night. You don't wanna spend time with me when she goes to bed?"_

_"I do but..."_

_"Don't tell me this is about diapers!" Natalia said. "I'm so making you change Nevaeh's diapers when we're over there! Bring a pair of gloves if you have to. You're going!"_

_"Hey Natalia. Hey Wolfe," Eric said when the couple arrived. Nevaeh was just walking out of her bedroom, holding her mom's hand. _

_Nevaeh smiled at Ryan and Natalia when she saw them. She started to walk toward Natalia and the woman bent down._

_"Hi there, pretty girl," Natalia said. _

_"Hey guys," Calleigh said. "Thanks for coming."_

_"No problem," Ryan replied._

_Nevaeh had let go of her mom's hand and Natalia had picked her up. Eric said that Nevaeh had already had her dinner but there was a snack pack of animal crackers on the table and juice in the frig if she wanted any time between now and bed at 7:00. _

_"Half water, half juice in the cup, right?" Natalia asked._

_Nevaeh now drank from a sippy cup half of the time. She only had three bottles a day now. One in the morning, one in the afternoon and one at bedtime._

_"Yep. And her bottle for bedtime is in the frig."_

_"Okay," Natalia said. "And I hope this is all right with you two, I promise I won't let her be traumatized but it but Ryan will changing all diapers this evening."_

_"Fine with us," Calleigh said with a shrug of her shoulders and a smile. _

_"_Ya_ bring your gloves, Wolfe?" Eric asked with an evil grin. "She ate a lot at dinner tonight."_

_Even Calleigh couldn't help but laugh at Ryan's horrified expression._

Changing a dirty diaper did seem to horrify the CSI. His girlfriend was nearby in the room laughing at him. Ironically Nevaeh also laughing, seemingly at him. Sure a stinky diaper was indeed not pleasant but Ryan was being _so_ dramatic.

"_The dear god!_ How do they do this so many times a day! Agh! This is so _gross!_ How can something so small and cute make something like this!"

With all his whining, Natalia were relieved when a clean diaper was finally on the baby girl and the used diaper was disposed of. Nevaeh was still giggling. She probably thought Ryan had been putting on a show to entertain her.

"I have to go wash my hands," Ryan mumbled quickly exiting the room as Natalia picked up Nevaeh from the changing table and cleaned the child's hands with wet wipes.

"_Wuss!_" She called after Ryan. "You would think dumpster dives would prepare you for this!"

Nevaeh laughed.

Natalia smiled and kissed her cheek.

"You thought that was funny, didn't you?" She asked Nevaeh. "Daddy doesn't act like that when he changes your diaper, do he?"

Both Calleigh and Eric were holding their ribs with laughter while Natalia told them about Ryan's 'ordeal.'

Ryan had even shivered at the mention of the diaper.

"It was _horrible!_" He told the couple.

"I'm sure, Wolfe," Eric said, catching his breath.

"Yeah," Calleigh said. "But I bet _we've_ seen worse!"


	44. Everybody Knows

_**Everybody Knows & Baby Ambitions**_

_A little Add-on I thought of after I posted the previous chapter!_ :)

Ryan knew full well that Nevaeh's parents, as well as his own girlfriend were going to let the whole lab know about the diaper episode.

"With this development, Mr. Wolfe, I'm sending out an e-mail that you do any dumpster diving on any scene you're on," he said, cracking a smile.

Ryan sighed.

"I guess you heard, did you?" He asked.

"Yeah," Horatio said. "You know it's pretty bad when a one-year-old is laughing at you, too."

Aside from the diaper episode, spending time with Nevaeh had caused Natalia to start thinking of babies with Ryan. Ryan wasn't against having children with his lover. Getting over his extreme anxiety about dirty diapers and other messes babies and children made that was made worse by his OCD was something he was working on fiercely. He saw the joy parenthood that bought to his co-workers' lives. Aside from their joking, both Eric and Calleigh assured Ryan that he hadn't hurt their child's feelings because Ryan worried he had and it was the last thing he wanted. He really did love Nevaeh.

"She's too young to have those thoughts, Ryan," Calleigh said. "She was laughing 'cause I bet she thought you were trying to entertain her."

"And if she were going through a moment of 'not liking you' I can tell ya she would have refused no matter to give you that big hug and kiss at bedtime," Eric said. "She has her own mind and can be stubborn when she wants."


	45. Explanation!

_If any of you are confused by the appearance of Tim Speedle, I didn't want to kill him off and I also like Ryan so the team has an extra person!_


	46. So

_**So...**_

Calleigh had noticed how her friend had looked at her baby daughter and just how good _both_ were with Nevaeh. Eric too, had seen the wheels in both Ryan's and Natalia's head when they were with his daughter.

_They_ wanted a baby.

Calleigh was the first to ask half the couple if a baby was in the works.

_"What?" _Natalia asked with a truly stunned look on her face.

"I see the way you two are with Nevaeh," Calleigh replied. "And I know you guys have talkin' about children. And _don't_ give me that 'we have to be more prepared' or 'we have to be married' shit. There's no such thing."

"But—"

"Yeah, I know me and Eric got married before Nevaeh was born but it wasn't we felt we "had" to for any reason or anyone's sake. Only 'cause we wanted to and frankly 'cause we had waited long enough to reveal how we felt as we it was. I just happened to be pregnant at the wedding."

Before Natalia told her friend that she had tossed her birth control pills the week earlier, she asked Calleigh what it was like to be pregnant. Calleigh told her to pick a day on the calender and then ask her.

Calleigh's husband were just as blunt with Ryan in the trace lab.

"So, is Natalia pregnant yet?"

"Excuse me?" Ryan asked.

"You heard me. I see how you are with my little one. I know you two want one," Eric replied.

Ryan wasn't going to deny his and Natalia's desire for a baby. Even though they had only been 'trying' for a week.

"How long did it take for you guys to conceive Nevaeh?" Ryan asked before he thought.

Eric grinned. All kinds of replies entered his mind, like "My guys have perfect aim. 'Got it on the first shot." And "Cuban sperm works fast."

He and Calleigh were positive that their child had been conceived the night they had finally confessed their love. The night Calleigh was had been rescued from her kidnaping. "Never mind!" Ryan replied, just as quickly.

Despite the rocky start when they met Eric and Ryan were now friends. Eric thought Ryan would make a great father.


	47. The Convention

_**The Convention **_

_An extended chapter, rated "M" for sexuality!___

He had attended the same one the weekend before. Now it was time for Eric and Calleigh to go. Nevaeh was staying with her grandparents on Friday. Horatio was going to pick her up on Saturday morning and stayed with her at her house till Sunday evening. Only for the fact he was working late on Friday and most likely wouldn't be finished before the baby needed to get ready for bed. Mommy and Daddy wouldn't be back till close to the baby's bedtime on Sunday. The convention ended at five everyday and with a two-person jacuzzi in their room (they lucked out with getting one of the expensive suites, on the lab's dime with the hotel booked tight) both were looking forward to some steamy couple time. Not to mention,during this time, Eric's parents were hoping he'd forgot the condoms and Calleigh forget to take the pill. No such luck, the couple were still enjoying Nevaeh's babyhood too much to make her a big sister just yet.

Nevaeh had started to call Horatio "H" mimicking her dad. Coming from her, it sounded like "asche." Her godfather thought this were adorable and told everybody not to correct the tot.

_At the Hotel_

Calleigh sighed, flopped down on the hotel bed. She enjoyed being a mother but she looking forward to some couple time with her husband now that the convention was over for today.

Eric smiled softly, laying on the bed on his side next to her. He ran his fingers through her hair, the skin of his fingertips touching the nape of her neck.

"I get the feeling after a power nap, you and I are going to have some fun, ," Calleigh murmured seductively.

Eric laughed. The two had just returned from eating dinner with Natalia and Ryan. "From the amount of aphrodisiac stuff they were both takin' from the buffet, I bet Wolfe and Natalia probably didn't even make it to the bed when they got to the room," he said.

"Yeah," his wife replied. "They're on a mission. We get to do it just for fun," she said, reaching down, beginning to undo the button and zipper on his jeans.

"Mmm," Eric murmured, beginning to work his way down his wife's neck with his mouth. "So much for a power nap."

_Little Havana, Miami, Florida. Home of Pavel & Chlorinda Delko_

Pavel Delko smiled, seeing Horatio Caine on his doorstop at 8:57am the next morning. The lieutenant was as excited as Nevaeh that they were going to get to spend the next two days together. Since her grandmother had said to Nevaeh "you're going to see Horatio today" while she was getting her dressed the baby kept saying "asche." Nevaeh was sitting on the living room floor playing with blocks, when she saw Horatio, she grinned and quickly got up and ran over to him.

"Hello there, darling," he said bending down to her level. Nevaeh kissed him on the mouth and put her arms up to him and he picked her up.

"She was looking forward to seeing you," Pavel said.

"She was, huh? I'm glad to see you, too, pumpkin. We're gonna have fun."

_Nevaeh's House (Mommy's & Daddy's, too!)_

When the two arrived at the Delkos' Horatio found a note on the counter.

_Went grocery shopping. The cupboards and frig are full. Help yourself! You know where __everything is. Baby girl is fine. Nothing new to tell. You know the drill. This is probably a waste of time, but if you give her chocolate or strawberry milk in her bottle or cup, don't do it anymore than __once a day__._

_You can sleep in the bed, the sheets are fresh. _

_Have a great weekend!_

As Calleigh thought he would, Horatio made a face at the milk rule.

"You're right. You are wasting your time," he said aloud. "I can give you all the treats I want," he said, tickling Nevaeh and making her giggle.

_At the Hotel_

Spent after ravaging each other for close to two hours, Ryan and Natalia lay back on the pillows of their hotel bed. Natalia turned on her side, hugged into his chest and extending an arm around his waist.

"The mission is kinda fun, isn't it?" She sighed.

"You can say that again," Ryan said.

_The Delko Home_

"Good stuff, huh?" Horatio said to Nevaeh, who was enjoying a _Gerber lil' Graduate _mealof beef ravioli. The sauce all over her face and bib. "And you're getting good at feeding yourself. Most of it is getting into your mouth."

The tot grinned in reply.

After lunch and a nap, Horatio was going to take Nevaeh to the park. He knew she loved the swings and recently began to enjoy going half-way down the slide, with help, that is.

"Are we ready to go?" Horatio said to Nevaeh, putting her tiny black shades on her face, finishing putting sunblock on her arms, legs and face. It was warm outside so Nevaeh wore a blue denim shrts. The white t-shirt she wore had a purple butterfly print on it.

The girl grinned and kicked her feet. Horatio had just put her pink, purple and white _Abby Cadabby_ theme shoes on her feet. She wasn't trying to take them off like the last time he had her out in the stroller. Calleigh had said that lately her baby won't do that if the park were mentioned. Even at such a young age, after hearing "no shoes, no park" several times it seemed to sink in for her. And Horatio had mentioned the park, the swings, the slide and something new, the man who sold all the colorful balloons near the park when he began to put on her sneakers. Remembering to take a snack along with the other essentials in case Nevaeh got hungry Horatio kept with his godfather treat role and packed a bag of potato chips and a snack pack of chips ahoy along with two sippy cups of apple juice.

Daddy called to check in when the two were nearing the park. Nevaeh had just spotted the balloon vendor and her eyes were glued to the big red balloons attached to his cart.

"Boon!" She exclaimed.

Hearing his daughter in the background, Eric laughed. "I see some lil' girl is havin' a great time without mommy and daddy," he said. _But she's with her second dad, of course she's happy,_ he thought.

"Would you like a balloon?" Horatio said, bending down at Nevaeh's side. "Which one? This one?" He said, touching a green balloon. Nevaeh pointed to a big red balloon and grinned. "All right. Red it is," he said paying the man, then tying the balloon onto the side of the stroller. She was transfixed by it till Horatio said "wanna go on the swings?"

Nevaeh smiled, reached out to Horatio and he picked her up, placing in the swing. Through the child's giggles Horatio heard a female voice from behind him say "goodness. Every time I see her she's after growing so much!"

He turned to see Yelina Salas.

"Yelina, hey," he said, giving the woman a hug.

The two chatted for a few minutes while Nevaeh swung happily in the swing. Yelina smiled watching Horatio give the little girl a few trips down the slide thinking what a wonderful he would be as a father.

At bedtime, although she didn't cry she wanted to know were mommy and daddy were.

"Mami? Papi?" She said when Horatio was dressing her for bed.

"You'll see them tomorrow," Horatio told her. "But don't worry. I'm gonna stay with you."

Nevaeh smiled. "Asche!" She said.

Horatio had a feeling that Nevaeh wouldn't sleep all that long sensing her parents weren't home. She woke at 11:00 when he was getting ready to go to bed himself.

"Mami! Papi!" She called out. In her sleepy state she was surprised to see her godfather enter the room instead.

"Hi pumpkin," Horatio said softly. He picked Nevaeh up in his arms and kissed the side of her head. "Do you wanna come in and sleep with me in mommy and daddy's bed?"

Nevaeh rubbed her eyes and buried her head in his shoulder. Horatio took that as a yes.


	48. Trouble

_**Trouble back in Town**_

Looking for mommy and daddy was fleeting for Nevaeh. It rained on Sunday so the two spent the day playing indoors. It pulled at Horatio's heart how wonderful it must be to wake up to a child.

_It was a running joke with the three but if Nevaeh's parents ever showed up on his doorstop in the middle of the night with baby in hand saying, "we're done! We're sick of this parenthood thing! She's yours! We'll bring you the papers in the morning!" Horatio would take the baby, say 'thank you' and close the door._

Horatio enjoyed the feeling of his goddaughter in his lap while he read to her. She was quite entranced by his voice. Nevaeh's godfather smiled watching Nevaeh's big brown eyes get even bigger as she looked at the colorful pictures on the pages of the book. He placed a kiss on the top of her head. In response to that Nevaeh stood up, turned around and gave Horatio a kiss.

"Aww,"Horatio said, giving her a hug when she leaned into his chest. "Love you, too, baby girl."

The couple was in a good mood as they got into their car in the hotel parking lot. It had been a nice break but now they were looking forward to seeing their daughter again. Hopefully she would be happy to see them the two laughed. After being with Horatio they weren't so sure. Unfortunately the mood was quickly shattered when parking their car arriving home they saw the face of a woman they never wanted to see again.

_Megan Duquesne._

When Nevaeh were eight months old the couple had been successful in obtaining an indefinite restraining order against Megan Duquesne. She had contacted then again then, demanding the same type of visitation with the now-sixteen-month-old girl as she had before the child were even born. She figured she had a better chance of gaining now being the girl were almost a toddler. By contacting them and coming to their home, Megan was now in violation of that order and could and were about to be arrested.

Horatio happened to glance out the window and see Megan. He promptly called patrol, knowing neither Calleigh or Eric could arrest the woman. A unit was just three minutes out and before Megan Duquesne could blink a set of cuffs were being put on her wrists and she were read her rights. Both CSI's carried a copy of the court order with them because they never knew when or if she would cross their path.

Megan had _hoped_ that her daughter and her husband were at work and that there was some unsuspecting young girl watching Nevaeh. She had been hoping that she could talk her way into the home and whisk the baby away before her parents got home. She would bring her back. The parents just deserved a scare for denying the chance to see the baby and then getting the restraining order. It was hard for Megan to admit that really she hadn't wanted a relationship with a child or be a dotting grandma. The fact that her daughter had left Louisiana, never looked back and was now living a happy family life bothered her. Parenthood had made her miserable and she blamed Calleigh for that.

Therefore Calleigh _Delko_ deserved a dose of misery. Fortunately timing had been on their side and the couple had intercepted _her_. Not that they would have had to worry anyway, it would have been over Horatio Caine's lifeless body that Megan would be taking Nevaeh _anywhere_.

Nevaeh was very happy to see mom. She ran to her and gave a big kiss. Calleigh scooped her daughter up and hugged her tight.

"Did you have fun with uncle Horatio?" She asked her. "Looks like you did."

Nevaeh had cookie crumbs all over her face. The little girl had been totally oblivious to what was going on in the parking lot, even when Horatio had made the brief call for patrol. Eric had guessed that it had to be Horatio who had called the station.

"Did you call patrol, H?" He asked.

"I did," Horatio replied. "I happened to look out the window."

Megan Duquesne now faced six months to a year in prison and several years probation which would likely include the condition that she couldn't leave her home state.


	49. Blue Stick REVISED

_**Blue Stick**_

_My writer's block finally cleared! For a chapter, anyway!_

Their friends had yet to say anything to confirm it both Eric and Calleigh knew Natalia Boa Vista was now pregnant with Ryan Wolfe's baby. Natalia was pretty pale all day, not eating much and when she was it was plain, bland food like chicken noodle soup and toast. Very unlike Natalia's taste.

When she was sure that they were alone in the trace with no nosy ears nearby Calleigh bluntly asked her friend "you take the test, yet?"

Natalia smiled. "Yeah. It's positive. So was the one I took with Alexx when I came in this morning. Unfortunately though I won't get my blood test results till later this afternoon."

Calleigh knew her friends was hoping for a positive result and had her fingers crossed for them. Her own child was now sixteen months old. She couldn't disagree with people who said either Neavah was getting cuter by the day or she was looking more like her daddy every day. Even though it had been it had only a little over a year since she and Eric had become parents, she couldn't remember what they had done without her in their lives. Somehow, they guessed it was because they wanted her for very long, they felt but they had known Nevaeh for much longer than twenty-five months, the nine months she was in Calleigh's belly and the sixteen months she had been on this earth.

* * *

Ryan was so excited about his girlfriend possibly being pregnant he blurted out the news in the hummer while he and Eric were driving back the take-out place picking up the lab's lunch order. Eric had been guessing this since all Natalia ordered for lunch was a plain turkey sandwich, with no mayo and soup. Very unlike her. But he didn't say anything.

"Wow. That's awesome, man."

Although he himself hadn't experienced that anticipation of waiting on a pregnancy test. Eric could just imagine how Ryan must be feeling wanting fatherhood so badly. Eric did remember how he felt when told him those two little words "I'm pregnant."

He was on top of the world.

The only time that feeling were surpassed was when he saw his daughter for the first time. Eric was a puddle of tears who was sobbing so hard he could barely speak.

And he wasn't a bit ashamed to say it.

Natalia's test results were back.

She was pregnant.

When her lunch break arrived, the time that nurse said she hoped to call, Natalia sat in her car and waited. As usual she and Ryan had taken separate cars to work not sure if both would leave the lab at the same time. She called Ryan and asked to meet her in her car before he went into the building.

"That was Nat," Ryan said to Eric hanging up his phone. "She wants me to meet her in her car."

"Good luck, man," Eric said, parking the hummer. As nosy as he felt, he gave the couple their privacy. Soon enough anyway, after Natalia told her boyfriend her Eric would know. Either by an excited Ryan or because after telling Ryan, Natalia would then call Calleigh who he knew would promptly call him.

Eric's wife had finished her early shift moments ago and was on her way home.

* * *

"So?" Ryan said, smiling, getting in the passenger seat and closing the door.

Natalia replied by kissing him passionately.

"I'm pregnant," she whispered.

"Oh babe! That's great!" Ryan grinned, kissing her back.

The doctor guessed Natalia were about six weeks pregnant. She was seeing the doctor again in two days to get a closer estimate.

Eric was in the break room enjoying his Cuban sandwich and fries when Alexx entered and commented "how wonderful" the lunch was for the young man's arteries.

"You know I'm not a salad guy, Alexx," Eric replied. "And I _do_ hit the gym."

His phone rang then. He looked at the caller id.

_Calleigh._

It was less than ten minutes since he saw Ryan entering Natalia's car. Eric hadn't seen either CSI so he figured they might headed in to talk to Horatio.

"Yes, dear," he answered the phone.

"Natalia's pregnant," was the first thing he heard.

Eric was right. It only took him moments to find out the news of the latest CSI baby in the making. He was also right that Ryan and Natalia had gone to see Horatio so Natalia could be put on lab duty only immediately. Eric and Calleigh couldn't see giving their daughter a sibling yet. They were enjoying her babyhood too much. Maybe when Nevaeh was three.

"Congratulations, guys," Eric said when the two eventually entered the breakroom.

"Calleigh called you?" Ryan asked smiling.

"'Course. You know how not very long that woman can keep a secret like that."

* * *

"You're gonna have a new cousin, you know that, sweetpea?" Calleigh said to her daughter that afternoon, tickling her. "But there's no way he or she could be as adorable as you."

Call her selfish but the southern woman was a little bias.


	50. Daddy's Home!

_**Daddy's Home!**_

Calleigh smiled seeing her daughter's eyes dart toward the porch hearing the front door open and close. She knew it was daddy because Eric had called moments ago.

"Who's that? Is that daddy?" She asked Nevaeh.

Nevaeh's face broke into a grin. The baby girl stood up and ran toward the porch. Calleigh laughed watching the fast pace the diaper-clad butt ran to meet her dad, it was more like a waddle.

"Dada!" She heard the little girl exclaim. She knew that never failed to make Eric smile.

"Hello princesa," he said picking the baby up. _"Daddy missed you_!" Eric smiled as his little girl laid a big, wet kiss on his mouth and then put her short arms around his neck and hug into his shoulder.

"We missed you, too," Calleigh said, walking into the porch and kissing her husband.

Though Eric definitely missed seeing Calleigh at work all the time, he knew their baby deserved one parent home at least half of the time and he would never be selfish enough to ask his wife to change that for him. If his wife _had_ felt differently and had wanted to go to back to work full-time after their daughter was born, regardless of anyone's opinion he would have been more than happy to stay home with Nevaeh. No matter how "unmanly" that role seemed to some.

* * *

The Delkos were very happy for Ryan and Natalia. Though they joked the two were going to get a rude awakening to the reality of it–as they had themselves, once the baby came.

_Many people told them about how much less sleep they would be getting but that never sunk in till they had Nevaeh that first night. When Nevaeh was three-weeks-old on a brief trip to the lab Calleigh asked Alexx "do newborns ever sleep?"_

_Her and Eric were totally exhausted at this point._

_Alexx laughed. "They do. But unfortunately just not when you want them to."_

_As usual, no one ever knew how, Horatio overheard this, too. He went to the couple's home after work, getting there a few minutes after Eric had arrived home from the lab. He told them he was there to babysit while the two got some sleep. The two looked so tired that he knew once they got to bed they wouldn't be able to do anything else._

_Eric finished feeding the baby, burped her and handed her over to her godfather. The parents were even too tired to eat dinner. Horatio told them to get some sleep first and then eat dinner. He'd stay for a while. He chuckled seeing the onsie Nevaeh was wearing. The words 'tiny but trouble' were written on the front._

_"Very true tonight, huh?" He said. "Won't sleep for your mommy today, sweetheart?"_

_Nevaeh responded with a gurgle._

_The couple felt bad when they slept till 10:30. Their baby girl was still awake but starting to fall asleep. Horatio had changed her into a sleeper and was feeding her a bottle. He told the couple to go eat and he'd tuck the baby in._

_"He's wonderful with her, isn't he?" Calleigh said to Eric in the kitchen._

_"For sure. And from the way he looks at her, I'm sure he'd take her home if we said the word."_

Nevaeh could feed herself with a spoon. And was quite proud of it, she often refused to let someone spoonfeed her now. Now she didn't like wearing a bib, she started to resist this in the past few weeks. This evening she happily ate mince meat, peas and rice with tomato sauce sprinkled with cheese, but without the spices or the tortilla her parents had.

She also knew one word that she would get a "yes" to if she ate all her dinner.

"Cookie!"

"What else do you say?" Eric asked.

"Me cookie," she said, pointing at herself.

"No," daddy smiled. "Try again."

"Pease," the baby said.

"Thatta girl," Eric said, giving her a chocolate chip cookie.

After she ate her cookie, Nevaeh wanted to get down. Her parents knew it was unrealistic to ask a 16-month-old to stay seated in her high chair longer. She had sat and ate without a fuss, except for getting her bib on. That was all they could ask of a child so young.

"Book?" Neaveh said, going over to her child's size table in the corner of the room and bringing one of her favorite books _Put Me in the Zoo_ over.

"I'll read to you in a bit, okay?" Eric said when his daughter came over to him.

Dad had got the chance to change his clothes and wash up before eating dinner with his family. This was something he didn't get the chance to do often and he savored it. The little girl seemed to understand. Nevaeh went back and sat at her table, sat down and began to scribble with crayons. Her parents chatted at the table for a while. When she heard the dishwasher start, Nevaeh looked up.

Calleigh laughed.

"I think that's your cue, daddy."

"Yeah," Eric smiled, kissing his wife. "I have another date. I promise I won't be late."

Calleigh didn't tell her husband but when she were taking a bubble bath, she enjoyed listening to them during their daddy-daughter play probably as much as the two enjoyed that precious time together.


	51. Giggles

_**Giggles & Softies**_

The giggles from the nursery was a sweet sound to Calleigh's ears. In the mirror on the wall across the room she saw the reflection of the two.

_Nevaeh was sitting on the change table in just her diaper. Eric had taken out a purple and white pyjamas with various Sesame Street characters on the top. _

_"Give me your right foot," Eric said to the baby. _

_Nevaeh lifted her left foot._

_"Not that one, silly," Eric said._

_Nevaeh raised her other foot._

_"There you go," Eric said, slipping the pants on the child's legs, standing her up and pulling them up. He sat the baby back down. "Put your hands up," he said. His daughter put her arms up, giggling. Eric smiled. "You know that one, don't ya?"_

_Daddy topped off the outfit with Neaveh's white bunny slipper since they were going to play for another little while before bed. Putting the girl in her pyjamas was a cue to her it was soon time to settle down. When Nevaeh was dressed for bed earlier than bedtime helped her go to bed easier. "We'll leave your buddy here since you're not going to sleep yet," Eric referring to the bear Horatio had given the girl when she were days old. Nevaeh wouldn't sleep without it. Anytime the bear had to take a trip through the washing machine, like the day before when his child decided to "share" her chocolate pudding with him by dipping his nose in it, it was in a laundry sack. This proved to be extending the life of the toy. He still looked pretty new. _

Eric saw his wife when he carried their daughter out of the room.

"Do you want mami to play with us for a while?" He asked Nevaeh.

She nodded. "Si," she said.

"You're the best dad, you know," Calleigh said, snuggling into Eric's bare chest when she got into bed that night.

Eric smiled. "She makes it easy."

While Eric didn't doubt how much he would bond with his child, even before she were born, just how much she meant to him could bring tears to her father's eyes. For the most part, he and Calleigh were firm about no baby in their bed after she were weaned from the breast, unless Nevaeh was sick but daddy was weak to Nevaeh's calls of "dada!" in the middle of the night. Sometimes he were able to ignore her and after only a few moments the baby would soothe herself back to sleep. Other times Eric would give in immediately. Both knew that the majority of the time there was nothing the matter with the little girl; she had just woke up and now wanted attention.

Nevaeh almost never called out to mom; she knew mom would only check on her and if nothing was wrong, mom would leave her in her crib to put herself back to sleep.

"You're a wuss, you know," Calleigh smiled sleepily at her husband after he got back into bed after being up with Nevaeh for twenty minutes at 3:00am. "And _she_ knows it, too."

Eric smiled. There was anything wrong with Nevaeh. As mommy predicted she just wanted attention because she were awake. Eric had picked her up and sat with her in the rocking chair. He stroked Nevaeh's back with his fingertips as the baby hugged into his chest, her short legs around his waist. She was snoozing again in moments.

"Oh really?"

"Really. Why do you think she only ever calls out for _you_? She knows I'll leave her there."

"If we ever have a boy, we'll see what happens to you," Eric teased back.

_Even if it was three in the morning, she just wanted a cuddle and she's only a little baby,_ Eric's softie daddy side reasoned.

Even though all their family and friends were asking when they were going to have a second child now that Nevaeh were almost two, the couple still couldn't think of that yet. Oh, they definitely wanted more children, maybe even more than two but they had plenty of time. Calleigh refused to admit it but she knew she would probably be a softie with a little boy as Eric was with their daughter.


	52. Practice

_**Practice**_

In an attempt to overcome his fear of diapers now his own baby were on the way Ryan Wolfe were babysitting Nevaeh Delko solo tonight while the couple had their date night. He knew he was in for a ride when the moment her parents were out of the door she gave him an impish grin.

"What did I get myself into?" He said out-loud.

The baby girl was in just her diaper; her parents said she were more comfortable like this at this point in the evening. Ryan would have to change her diaper and put her pajamas on her in an hour anyway. Calleigh had put out two pairs of summer pajamas next to the crib being she knew Ryan wouldn't bother to look around beyond the change table. Two pairs because Nevaeh were a messy eater and sometimes needed another set of clothes after she ate her snack which tonight was a cup of apple sauce and an oatmeal cookie with a cup of apple juice mixed with water.

* * *

Playing with the Nevaeh and keeping her entertained was easy. Ryan felt his heart begin to melt when Nevaeh spontaneously gave him a hug and sloppy kiss on the mouth while they were playing. He was definitely beginning to realize why Eric enjoyed being at home and looked forward to the end of the day so much.

"I love you, too," Ryan said, kissing the top of Nevaeh's head. "Are you cold?" he asked, feeling the baby's back. "Do you want to get your jammies on and then we'll play again?"

Nevaeh nodded and let Ryan carry her to her room. Changing a diaper and dressing the baby was much easier than Ryan thought. It was sweet hearing Nevaeh babble as he dressed her. Nevaeh giggled when Ryan sang "the itsy bitsy spider" and tickled her tummy with two fingers. The CSI was having more fun than he thought was going to. Maybe she didn't get too tired he let stay up a bit later than the bedtime that her parents specified. Chloe continued to babble as walked out the room, holding onto two of Ryan's fingers. The little girl actually fell asleep in Ryan's lap in the rocking chair while he was reading her a bedtime story. He gave her a kiss before he put her in the crib.

When Nevaeh's parents got home they hid their laughter seeing how neatly and precisely all of their child's toys had been stacked up and put away. The kitchen counter and the baby's high chair was pristine, the dishes were put away, the couch were perfectly arranged and the load of laundry from the dryer which consisted of Nevaeh's clothes, towels and washclothes were folded and arranged, by color, in the armchair. It looked like Ryan even dusted the television and top of the entertainment center.

Calleigh told her husband, smiling, she didn't know if she liked this, it was putting _her_ housekeeping to shame. After Ryan left Eric said he knew why Natalia was marrying Ryan; the CSI was a great housekeeper.

Calleigh laughed and hit Eric in the arm.


	53. Sunshine

_**Sunshine**_

When her daughter woke up and asked for "'Yan" Calleigh didn't know what to think.

"You had fun with uncle Ryan, didn't you?" She said carrying the child from her room. She wasn't working today and presently her husband was teasing their co-worker at the lab. Eric had to be in early, at 7:00am, that morning.

_"I tell you, Nat, not only is this guy great with kids but he's a hellava housekeeper!" Looking at Ryan, he said "good luck keeping that up when the baby arrives though."_

Almost as soon as she asked for her uncle, Nevaeh was looking for her daddy.

"Daddy's at work," Calleigh told her.

"Wab?" Nevaeh asked.

"That's right, at the lab. You're so smart!"

Natalia knew how much Ryan had enjoyed the evening with Nevaeh Delko. He was all talk about it when he got home.

"It's too bad little ones have to go to bed so early. I could have played with her all night."

Ryan told his fiancée how cuddly and affectionate the Delko's daughter was. She wasn't at all shy about giving hugs and kisses. Ryan was also beginning to realize just why pregnancy was so sexy on the woman you loved. Natalia was about fourteen weeks and beginning to show. She herself didn't see what was so attractive about this. Calleigh told her to just enjoy the attention. Calleigh added that she thought all pregnant bodies were beautiful, minus her own when she was carrying Nevaeh. Natalia's fiancé's over-protectiveness was in full gear already.

And swiftly getting on the expectant mother's nerves.

_That_ was something Calleigh could relate to. She didn't know how she hadn't strangled Eric for treating her like glass, as if being stuck in the lab during her whole pregnancy and having to leave her beloved ballistics at six months pregnant wasn't bad enough.

Calleigh and Nevaeh having lunch with Natalia on Calleigh's day off. Natalia laughed when she heard Nevaeh had asked for Ryan that morning. Hearing his name again, Nevaeh looked up from the paper she were scribbling on.

"'Yan?" She asked, looking around.

Both woman laughed.

"I think daddy's gonna be jealous," Natalia smiled.

* * *

"And she complains I'm being_ over-protective,_" Ryan complained to Horatio, Frank and Eric in the breakroom. "By the way, where is Natalia?"

"What? You haven't seen her in fifteen minutes?" Frank teased.

"She's at lunch with my wife and daughter," Eric said. "Relax, _Romeo_."

"Oh. You're one to talk! You were just as bad with Calleigh!" Horatio said.

When Natalia got back to the lab, accompanied by Calleigh and Nevaeh, Eric was out with Horatio. Ryan was in the trace lab. Nevaeh was in Natalia's arms.

"Wanna see uncle Ryan?" Natalia asked the baby.

Nevaeh nodded eagerly. "Si!"

Natalia left Nevaeh with her mom, put on her lab coat and entered the trace lab.

"Hey," she said, kissing Ryan's cheek.

"Hey you," Ryan replied, kissing her back. "How was lunch?"

"Good. There's someone right outside who wants to see you."

"Oh really?"

Nevaeh ran to "'Yan" when she saw him step out of the lab doorway. Ryan scooped her up.

"Hi ya, cupcake!" He said. "Am I happy to see you!"

The CSI smiled as the baby kissed his face.

When he heard his and Natalia's baby was on the way Ryan couldn't wait for the arrival, the more time he spent with Nevaeh Delko the worse that anticipation got.

* * *

And Daddy had nothing to fear after all. Nevaeh lit up and got down from the waiting room bench as fast as she could when she saw the elevator doors open and him step out. The squeal of "dada!" pulled him from the file he was reading. It was a good thing he had heard his daughter and looked up or else he might have been bowled over when she ran into his legs. A visit from his wife and daughter was welcome anytime but today especially. The case Eric was working involved a toddler intentionally killed by his father for "crying and whining incessantly." To make the circumstances worse, after the child had expired from a fierce blow to the abdomen, something which had taken hours itself, the man placed his son in the driveway and backed over him.

He then claimed the death was an accident, he hadn't seen the baby in the driveway.

The man finally broke down and told the truth after a few hours in interrogation with Tripp and Eric. When he did, he didn't profess to be sorry; he blamed the baby for being "annoying" even his happy babbling got on his nerves, he said "never wanted the kid anyway." Eric so needed to to see his child this afternoon.

_"Hello, princesa!_" He said, picking up Nevaeh, tipping her into a cradling position for a second before bringing her back up and kissing her cheek. "You're just who daddy needed to see!

"Hey," he said to his wife.

"Hey," she said to her husband, kissing him. "Tough day?"

Calleigh could read him like a book.

"You might say," he said. "I might be late tonight."

"That's all right. I'll have your favorite dinner waiting for you."

Eric loved Calleigh's homemade macaroni and cheese, as did their daughter.

"I'll take cardboard as long as you two are with it," Eric smiled softly.

Nevaeh was uncharacteristically fussy that night because she was teething. Even though this could be irritating, especially after a long day at work, Eric couldn't fathom harming his child simply because he was "annoyed." if anything, the case from the day gave him more patience that night.


	54. Precious Tears

_**Precious Tears**_

They both cried at the image before them. Natalia had her first ultrasound.

Ryan laughed when Eric told him "you're gonna cry!" shortly before the two left for the appointment. Eric admitted to Ryan he had when he had seen _every_ ultrasoundof Nevaeh. It was too early for the couple to find out but they were going to try to wait till the birth to find out the gender of their baby. Natalia was considering having a natural birth with a midwife at a birth center, saying if woman had done it for years she could handle the pain of childbirth. Ryan told her what she wanted he would support, his body wasn't going through this after all. Calleigh were a bit surprised to hear this though. Calleigh thought she was tough when it came to pain and maybe, just, _maybe_ would be able to have natural birth. But more than likely she thought would be getting an Epidural, that was why she choose a hospital to give birth. Though she had wanted it, Calleigh wasn't disappointed in herself when she couldn't cope with natural birth, she was happy just to not have a c-section or any stitches. She told Natalia if she could handle it "more power to her."

* * *

Ryan too had heard that the father who had murdered his son that every noise his son made was "annoying" and couldn't understand it. Maybe it was since his "niece" had been born or the fact he was expecting a baby himself, but except for their crying, it was hard to see a baby upset, he found every sound and coo a baby made adorable.

A 16-month-old's "talking" was precious.

The murdered baby boy's mother was very detached. She was married to another man and had three older children with him. Hayes, the murdered boy, was the product of an affair with the father who murdered him. The mother wanted to get back with her husband but he said that if she wanted to live with him and their children, she had to leave Hayes behind. It had been over a month since the mother had seen Hayes. She told Eric that she thought the boy was all right with the nanny his father had hired. The murder had occurred on the nanny's day off and the father was alone with him.

Of all the people connected to the boy, the nanny named Gina seemed the most affected. She was devastated. Victims' Services was in charge of burying the baby when his mother declined to arrange the funeral. She stated, even to the press she "just wanted to forget" Hayes. His conception had revealed her affair and ruined the marriage which she "just got back." She said the person who killed Hayes deserved punishment but this message was delivered like a bystander who had just heard it, not of the child's mother. Hearing the county was in charge of the memorial, the boy's nanny, Gina, asked to be involved. Being she seemed to be the only person who loved and cared for the boy and knew him best, this request was fast agreed upon.

Eric hadn't attended the funeral for a child, let alone a _baby_. A baby near the same age as his own. He, Ryan, Horatio and Frank attended the service. Seeing the small coffin that could be carried by one person and the photos of a smiling baby Hayes, Eric had a hard time holding back his tears on the cloudy day. Neither Calleigh or Natalia attended the funeral and Eric couldn't blame them.

It was torture.

He prayed that they would be able to bring justice to the boy gone too soon.

**_Please read & review!_**


	55. Needed Laughter

_**Needed Laughter**_

They all had to go back to work after Hayes' funeral and Eric hadn't get to see his wife while she was at the lab. The first sight he encountered when he stepped in the door that evening was a laughing, streaking baby with dark hair running from her blonde mother who was chasing her with a towel.

Could he have helped?

Sure.

But this opportunity was too good to miss. _He_ was usually in the blonde's position. She proclaimed this would _never_ happen to her. She was too smart and too quick.

"_Not a word, Delko!_" She said, coming back towards the room, Nevaeh tucked underneath her arm in a towel having been captured.

"'Never_', _huh?" Eric teased. "Now, did that moment just occur or was it you never had your wheaties this morning?"

"Laugh it up, buddy! Just for that, you can dress her," she said handing the baby in the towel to her husband.

"With pleasure," he replied. "You bein' bad this evening?" Eric said to his daughter, carrying her to the nursery.

Nevaeh Hope Delko already understood two languages, though presently she seemed to speak a whole different one no adult understood. Reading to the child was definitely having it's benefits as well. The little girl could point almost any animal she was asked to.

"Donde esta et perro?" Eric asked her after he finished putting her pyjamas on her.

Nevaeh pointed to the picture of _Clifford_ on her shirt.

Eric smiled, rubbing his child's back as she leaned into him, grabbing the fabric of his shirt in her tiny hands in her version of a cuddle before he picked her up off the change table.

"'Ug," she said.

"I love you, too, baby girl," he whispered. "If you only knew how much."

Nevaeh's favorite song was "The Itsy Bitsy Spider", in both English and Spanish. She'd squirm in excitement and clap when anyone began to sing it. Calleigh had the sense that Eric Delko was a great man when she first met him, when he was a tow truck driver, not a cop. When she got to really know him after he joined CSI, she knew he would make a great father and husband. She couldn't not smile when him singing in the other room.

"_Itzi, bitzi araña,_  
_Tejió su telaraña._  
_Vino la lluvia,_  
_Y se la llevó._  
_Salió el sol,_  
_Se secó la lluvia._  
_Y Itzi, bitzi araña,_  
_otra vez subió"_

Their baby's favorite song, sang in Spanish. She glanced in the doorway and saw Nevaeh sitting on the living room carpet, Eric in front of her laying on his side. Calleigh could watch this interaction forever.

In his "play boy" years Eric never imagined he'd be on the floor singing "Itzi Bitzi Arana" to the most beautiful baby girl in the world, at least not without being extremely embarrassed. Now he'd rather do this in the evenings than anything in the world.

* * *

Three a.m. at the Wolfe-Boavista residence. Ryan had laughed it off when both Eric and Tripp had told him about pregnant woman cravings.

But Natalia was craving _Subway_ and by god, she was getting it. One Ryan Wolfe wasn't getting any sleep till he got his butt out of bed and got it for her. Ryan complained about having to get dressed from his pyjamas Natalia stated "the shop isn't open! Only the drive-thru! Go in your pyjamas!"

Eric had been his own countless trips through the _McDonald's_ 24 hour drive thru for fries and a big Mac for Calleigh when she was carrying. You bet he made this trips in his pyjamas, he doubted he wasn't only ones the employees had ever seen that way.

Ryan was grumbling the next morning at work about his three a.m. Drive-thru trip; Eric had told him about these, too. He just didn't believe they would start this early in the pregnancy, even though Frank told him they would. There was _one_ Dunkin Donuts in Miami that had a 24-hour drive-thru. His ex-wife, mother of his two daughters had him making trips there at two and three in the morning during _both _her pregnancies.

"Hey man," Eric told Ryan. "I warned ya; the staff at MacDonald's knew me by name by the time Calleigh was six months!"

**_Please Read & Review! _**_Please feel free to correct any Spanish mistakes in the "Itsy Bitsy Spider"!_


	56. Silly Songs

_**Silly Songs**_

"You're _asking_ to babysit?" Eric inquired, puzzled.

"Me and Nat," Ryan said.

Eric's parents had to cancel on babysitting for the following night, Saturday, their date night. It was late Friday evening. Eric were sure his wife would agree that their friends could babysit.

He was right.

Like most people, hearing or having to sing to the same song over and over could get on anyone's nerves. Except for singing a baby's favorite nursery rhyme to her. Ryan still didn't understand why babies and little kids like the same story or song over and over. But if it made his niece happy then he didn't care.

Like her parents Nevaeh's babysitters wouldn't mind singing and playing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" with her a million times in one night. Maybe it was her hormones, but Natalia melted when she heard Nevaeh's new word with her own ears, "Arana," spider in Spanish. She would often say the word and do the spider motion with her fingers when she wanted someone to sing the song for her. A warm feeling came over Natalia when not even five minutes gone by since they got there, her parents hadn't even left and Nevaeh pulled on Ryan's pant leg, her _Itsy Bitsy Spider_ book in one hand and said "arana! Arana!"

Ryan then smiled and placed the girl in his lap and began to sing to her.

"You're gonna have that song going through your head by the time you leave," Calleigh laughed to Natalia.

She and Eric often did but that was parenthood.

"You think we'll be as confident doing this full-time?" Ryan asked his fiancee, rubbing her belly in circles as they watched Nevaeh fall into a deep sleep.

"I think in time," Natalia smiled, enjoying the feeling of Ryan's touch. "But can you imagine if we love _her_, how much we're gonna like to love this one?"

Ryan smiled. "I know."

* * *

The Delkos were home shortly after one. They had warned their friends that was Nevaeh cutting her molars. That wasn't fun for either parents or baby. Baby Motrin seemed to work enough to help the little girl sleep, even if the remaining discomfort made her whimper in her sleep. The teething pacifier that was good for her molar development seemed to bring her relief, compiled with the normal distractions of the day mommy didn't have to give her as much medication or Orajel. Even sleeping with the pacifier, something she hadn't done for months, Nevaeh often required Motrin at night. She had this night when her parents saw her she was cradled in Natalia's lap on the couch in a restless sleep. The child's arms were twitching a little and she was whimpering occasionally. Natalia had given the baby a dose of medication an hour before when she had awake. Calleigh had left instructions that was all right.

"She'll be okay, right?" Natalia asked, looking very worried.

"She will," Calleigh smiled. "It's rough but she gets through it."


End file.
